ScrewAttack Magazine #06

March 2011 No 06

Price - FREE $$$$ - v.2.0

EDITORIAL

Good ByeDaily Destin

It’s been a tough month la-dies and gentlemen we might have loss a great man on ScrewAttack but life continues and we can only wish the best to Destin in his new life and hope we see him again in a not so far future.

Long Live Destin!

So back to the issue, wow this was suppose to be done like the first week of this month... yeah... well we will have to work with this mean-while, every month for now the magazine will be posted at the midd-le of the month... for now so I would like to know if you like this kind of format.

So far apparently working on Hard News and -The Creed- at the same time it’s been really hard and time consuming but doesn’t mean i can’t do the magazie during my breaks... and shince I don’t work with ScrewAttack I don’t have to be worried to be blown up by Craig... I think???

Anyway I don’t really know what else to say, March it’s been a hard month ffrom me because since I haven’t been able to do much about my graduation project I wasn’t able to graduate on March, until I fi-nish -The Creed- I can’t give the final report, still I wish the Universi-ty accepts my project just as it is and they just give me a good grade. After that? we will see maybe Dah Random Show! will be back on a weekly basis how about that???

Anyway I hope everything goes well to Destin and hope to see him on the next SGC.

Japan is another issue I would like to talk about but unfortunately this should be something apart from the magazine, all I can say is my thoughts who were affected by this natural disaster, hope the nuclear crisis gets under control and that the rebuild of the country.

If you can donate to the Red Cross and other know organizations it would be fantastic.

Hybrid RainGerardo Mejia

The ScrewAttack Bolt!

Every month in the front page I hide a small ScrewAttack Bolt so

you can find it, the lucky one:

g1 Sirmidor

YOU ARE WINNER!Keep Hunting!

THE STAFF

► Game Previews by g1 MadHero15► Interview with Daily Destin by g1 Hybrid Rain► Pokemon Black & White Review by g1 MadHero15 and g1 Elitekill ► Killzone 3 Review by g1 Joeshadowman► Dragon Age 2 Review by g1 DonAngel► Marvel vs Capcom 3 Review by g1 RRPG► Beyond Good and Evil Review by g1 Diamonddigger870► The Mist Movie Review by g1 Kenshiro3► Masked Raider Kiva Review by g1 Kenshiro3► The Thing About The Ripoff Complaint by g1 Game Judge► Mortal Kombat Demo Impressions by g1 Cyrax► Gregory Horror Show Review by g1 Cyber Fox► The Legend of Zelda: El Rey comic is porperty of http://comiz-inc.deviantart.com/.

With the art work from:Fenryk, g1 Destructoidv2, Hugohugo, Slimu

and Ultimatewp

Check blog’s description for links to their art work.

This month’s Front Page was done by:Ultimatewp from DeviantArt

Articles in this Unofficial Magazine are property of the right g1 authors. Images, art work or any other material used in the publishing of this

digital magazine is property of the right authors.

This is a FREE and DIGITAL Magazine DO NOT PAY ANYTHING.

This unofficial magazine is publish for ScrewAttack Entertainment LLC.www.screwattack.com

ScrewAttack Logo is property of ScrewAttack Entertainment LLC.

Issue #06 - March 2011

Design, direction, construction, editing, production and publishing byGerardo Andres Mejia Torres - g1 Hybrid Rain

Bogota, Colombia.

ScrewAttack Magazine © 2011All Rights Reserved.

SCREWATTACK MAGAZINE - MARCH2

SCREWATTACK MAGAZINE - MARCH 3

THE INTERROGATIONDAILY DESTIN

He gave us 3 awesome years on Hard news, laughs and slimy Twinkies.

What will he share with us today?

Whats your real name and where are you from?

My real name is Destin Legarie and I was born in Fort Frances, Ontario Can-ada. I lived there until I was about 12 years old when I moved to Wisconsin.

What’s your gaming preference?

This could be anything really. I prefer the 360 for shooters because I like that the triggers feel like, well triggers, but I like the PS3’s exclusives because, well they have a lot of exclusive. I guess you could say that my gaming preference is good games no matter the platform. There’s been good titles released on all of them.

As a kid, what defined you as a gamer?

I was a big Sonic fan back in the day that would have put me in the Genesis league of gamers. I loved the Genesis because of the original X-Men game that was released on it.

The theme was great, the gameplay was challenging but not completely awful and I got to be Wolverine. As a kid I couldn’t ask for much more. Then Sonic came around and I was com-pletely sold. After a few years I even-tually traded up to an SNES, but I was definitely a Genesis kid.

Besides video games, what other hobbies you like?

I used to read comics, but now I have a ridiculous commute so my hobbies con-sist of video editing in my spare time. When I was still with ScrewAttack I was always working on something. An Ar-mory, a VGV, something for Dtoid or GoNintendo, but right now all of that’s kind of on hold while I get settled in the San Francisco area.

When I get time I do an episode of The Daily DL, but I haven’t gotten used to my schedule yet so I’m still unable to do it daily. I’m about to move into a new place though and hopefully that allows me more time to work on my side proj-ects.

What do you think of video games today?

Video games today are great. You have a lot of talented people working to make the best possible piece of me-dia they can. Sure there’s some jack-


asses who are too full of themselves, or companies that only care about mak-ing a buck, bit there’s still lots of pub-lishers and developers that care about making a good product. To answer your question I think video games to-day are pretty damn great.

What made you be interested in Gaming Journalism?

Actually when I started doing The Daily DL, which was before Craig noticed me and picked me up to do Hard News, I did it for one reason. I thought that people were taking this shit too serious-ly. Look, there’s a lot of horrible shit in life that we have to deal with. Cancer, and tragic events like the recent Tsuna-mi in Japan, are much more important and serious than a damn video game.

I wanted to parody the news media, poke fun at this industry I felt like I had just discovered and say “chill the hell out.” At the end of the first episode I said “Gaming news, serious business” and I meant it as sarcastically as I’ve ever said anything. Yes, the medium can do more and will probably one day compete with movies if it isn’t already. But that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at ourselves while enjoying some games.

That was a bit of a rant, but to shorten it up, I got interested in gaming journal-ism because people took it too damn seriously. I just wanted to bring some fun back.

What was your inspiration for starting doing videos?

Well, I just like video games. I started doing reviews before I even started do-ing the Weapon of the Week, and be-

fore that I even did a few music type videos where I would set Assassin’s Creed footage to Mindless Self Indulgence. I just found out that I loved making vid-eos and I haven’t wanted to stop since. I guess my inspiration is just that I love doing it and love games.

Some people still don’t know but, would you tell us why did you

leave ScrewAttack?

I left ScrewAttack to take an oppor-tunity in the San Francisco area. I am now a Jr. Community Manager at Frog-ster where I am currently working with The Runes of Magic community.

Runes of Magic is a free to play MMO, that’s somewhat similar to World of Warcraft. We also have some other very exciting properties on the way that I’ll be doing a lot of work on, but I don’t know if I can talk about them at this time.

It’s hard seeing you leave , want to share any good memories you

had while working with ScrewAttack?

Hybrid, I have so many good memories from my time at ScrewAttack I could fill up your entire magazine. One that really sticks out in my mind is last year during the E3 road trip when all of us just stopped on the side of the road and looked at the sky. It was incred-ible because there was almost no light pollution where we were so the stars were clearer than I’ve ever seen them. There’s a lot of moments like that which are kind of personal between the crew and I. It was always the off camera mo-ments that I loved the best. I’ll never forget them.

Daily Destin - Gaming News, Serious Business, maybe...

►Destin has been working with Screwattack for 3 years in various shows besides Hard News, many Clip of the Weeks and the great Metal Gear Ben has one of the main villains.


As for meeting all of you guys, I think my favorite moment would be the first time I was on a panel. It was myself, Corey, Chad, and an entire room filled with fans of our work. None of us ex-pected there to be any amount of peo-ple but seeing that kind of support was pretty amazing.

There’s also the dunk tank, a random g1 giving me a ride to my hotel, meet-ing a g1 at the steak eating thing, hid-ing Craig’s chocolates because he kept putting them on my desk, painting the wall, painting the arcade machine, my first video game vault... like I said, there’s a lot.

Have you ever been recognized on the street? if so, did you enjoy it?

I cannot think of one time that I’ve been recognized on the street, but I get recognized at events a lot. I’m always happy to shake someone’s hand and say hello, but I’m actually a private guy who likes keeping to himself for the most part. I have a small circle of people whom I consider my close friends and I like it that way.

What is the most important goal in your life right now?

Getting set up in California. I still don’t

even have my own place because I got put on a waiting list when I got here. You’ll have to ask me this one again in a few months.

In the Gaming/Journalism indus-try who do admire or respect and

why?

The one guy who’s always made me laugh is Jim Sterling. I’ve always loved his writing style, his ability to be open, crude, and brutally honest. He’s even bashed the hell out of some games that I love, but that’s his opinion and I re-spect that. I’m lucky to be able to work with him, and he’s always been good to me.

As for his reviews that bash my favor-ite games, he’s British or something anyway so his opinion doesn’t REALLY matter.

Any futures projects besides the Daily DL you would like to share?

Well, if I end up doing any future proj-ects you’ll see them on The Daily DL. Like I said though, I’m still just trying to get settled. I haven’t had too much time to brainstorm, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any ideas. Yes. I know I’m a tease.


Any last words to the g1 community?

Geeze I’m not dying. You make it sound like I’ll never be able to talk to you guys again. I refuse to have last words to anyone. I will say this though.

Thank you to every single person that’s supported me over the years and here’s to a 100 more lived by all of us to the fullest. That’s right 100. I’m an opti-mist. Keep on rockin’ internet.


HomefrontRelease Date: March 15th and 17thPlatform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360Hype Level: 7/10

g1 MadHero15 thinks:

O joy, another shooter. That’s what I first thought when I got a look at Homefront. It seemed like a me-too project, one that capitalizes on the popu-larity of the leviathan known as the Call of Duty franchise. However, after doing more research and hearing what reviewers have to say, I can honestly say that it has me interested.

One of its big selling points is the fact that John Milius is the writer for this game. For those that don’t know he is, he’s the writer of movies such as Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn, Conan, and The Hunt for Red Oc-tober. In short, he has a impressive resume.

This doesn’t make it surprising that story plays a big role in the game. In the game, North and South Ko-rea have finally united. This should bring joy to the world, but things go horribly wrong. The US crum-bles and now the Koreans are out on world domina-tion. It’s pure speculative fiction, and tries to bring a realistic and raw feel to it all.

However, you can’t just hire a good writer and be done with it. A game must have good gameplay. Homefront’s gameplay looks like the average shoo-ter you see these days, with a focus on guerilla tac-tics. It sounds fun, but I need to play it for a real verdict.

Homefront is a very interesting game. It’s a shoo-ter that tries to create a great story, and that’s so-mething you rarely see these days. That said, I’ll wait for reviews to come before I decide my purchase. So far they’ve been good, so we’ll see when the game comes out.

Thumbs Up/Down: A cautious Thumbs Up

-VIDEO GAME PREVIEWS: MARCH-SCREWATTACK MAGAZINE - MARCH10

Yakuza 4Release Date: March 15th and March 18th

Platform: PS3Hype Level: 8/10


Yakuza is a series that to me is kind of overrated. Ever since it first appeared on the Playstation 2 back in 2005, people have been quick to label it a Japanese GTA clone. While that might be true in some perspective, guys who give the game a chance realize it’s a whole lot more. Now the game is ready for its 4th outing, but can it sustain the quality of the previous games.

In Yakuza 4, you follow 4 main protagonists, all of which have interwoven plots and connection in some way, shape or form to the Yakuza. You’ll be exploring the red-light district of Shinjuku while you’re playing Mahjong, karaoke, go to the arcade, and more.

One thing that has always impressed people about Yakuza is its sheer scale and realism. It captures pla-ces in Japan to the finest detail in order to increase immersion. This strong point remains most likely in Yakuza, but now it has more areas to explore.

Yakuza will never be the giant that GTA is, but it sure comes pretty close. I myself have never been to Japan and these games have generally been the closest to what I think Japan might look like (if I were a badass Japanese gangster that is). It’s both a fun game, and a vacation trip. Can’t get much better than that.

Thumbs Up/Down: Thumbs up

-VIDEO GAME PREVIEWS: MARCH-SCREWATTACK MAGAZINE - MARCH 11

Crysis 2 Release Date: March 22nd and March 25thPlatform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360Hype Level: 4/10


The original Crysis is something of a phenome-non. Back when it came out in 2006, it looked absolutely gorgeous, and still does today. In fact, it looked so good, that almost no computer could actually run it when it came out. Now there’s a sequel, and it removes that problem by moving to consoles. Can Crysis 2 live up to its predecessor.

My answer is simple, it won’t. In these days, shoo-ters need to do something really impressive in order to make give a shit. Whether it’s over-the-top fun (Bulletstorm, Serious Sam, Duke Nukem Forever), or tie a interesting tale to it all (Ho-mefront, Metro 2033). What does Crysis 2 do? It gives you a nice Nano-suit. The Nano-suit gives some nice abilities, but they feel more like perks from Call of Duty than from something like Van-quish.

Overall, I can’t shake up the feeling that this will be that good. It still looks amazing, but the mul-tiplayer demo simply wasn’t that much fun. It felt just like Call of Duty, and despite a beauti-ful look of a savaged New York, I found it hard to get into it. I’m sure that Crysis 2 will find love from other players who aren’t as picky as me, but I’m just not interested.

Thumbs Up/Down: An extremely pretty looking thumbs down


Shift 2: UnleashedRelease Date: March 31st, April 1st and April 10th

Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360Hype Level: 6/10


The original Need for Speed Shift was a heavy departure for the series. Instead of going with the classic arcade fun in previous games such as Under-ground and Hot Pursuit, Shift took a more realis-tic and Forza approach. It worked, and the game made lots of money. Removing Need for Speed (which is returning to its roots thanks to Criterion) from it’s title, Shift 2 will surely make fans of the

original happy.

Too bad I wasn’t one of them. I can safely tell you that I’m not a fan of realistic racers. I find the phy-sics too annoying and most of the cars feel slow to me. When I race, I want to race while breaking the laws of physics with my badass car. I want to throw Koopa shells at my enemies or maybe throw a Mi-chael Bay-esque explosion into the mix. Realism in

racers simply doesn’t appeal to me.

So EA saying that it’ll be the most realistic racing game ever has made me throw all my anticipation out of the window. Still, I can see fans of the genre love it, and Slightly Mad Studios is trying to put in a lot of innovation, and add in a massive roster of 145 cars and 35 tracks, and you’ve got yourself a

winner. Just don’t expect me playing it.

Thumbs Up/Down: I say Down for myself, but Up for realistic racing enthusiasts.


OkamidenRelease Date: March 15th,17th, and 18thPlatform: Nintendo DSHype Level: 9/10


Back in 2006, there came a game known as Okami. It was a wonderful game made by the developers from Clo-ver Studios. It was beautiful, charming, fun, and showed things that no one had ever seen before. Unfortunatly, fate decided to play a cruel joke, and it did not well due to being on the PS2 while the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii were brand spanking new, so it came too late.

Luckily, a resurgence on the Wii spread its greatness though, and it was popular enough that Capcom deci-ded to make a sequel on the DS. It’s the last big game for the system until we can fully switch our vision to the 3DS. Okamiden takes place only 3 months after the first Oka-mi. Instead of the Sun Godess Amaterasu, you’re now her son, Chibiterasu (who’s one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen). Evil has once again resurfaced, and now it’s your task to destroy it. I’m sure there’s more, but Cap-com hes been quite tight lipped about the story, saying it will focus on friendship and bonds

What worries me the most is that almost none of the original team returns to make the game (almost all of them have gone to Platinum Games), and I hope that Capcom is able to make a game just as good as the first one. Using the Celestial Brush was fun but also frustra-ting due to some poor controls on the Wii version. The DS stylus can easily fix it, and make lots of new things possible.

Overall, I’m hyped up for Okamiden. While the fact that Clover Studios isn’t working on it saddens me, it’s still great to see an Okami sequel being made. I have faith in Capcom. Faith that they’ll end the DS’s legacy with a bang!

Thumbs Up/Down: Huge Thumbs Up


Nintendo 3DSRelease Date: March 25th, 27th, and 31st

Platform: It’s ownHype Level: 10/10


Oh, my god!!!!! It’s almost here. Nintendo’s next por-table has almost arrived. It’s going to be so cool!!!! Al-right, alright, I’ll go into more analysis than that, but you have to admit the release for a new handheld is pretty damn exciting.

There’s a reason why E32010 will go down in history as E3DS. Because the 3DS blew away people’s mind. When it was unveiled at Nintendo conference, all peo-ple could talk about was the 3DS. What was so im-pressive about it? Well, for one, the 3D without glasses is a definite plus, and also great games coming such as Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, and even the return of Kid Icarus.

That said, there are some problems with the 3DS. The biggest one being its battery life, which doesn’t last very long, this makes me believe that there will come a second version which will have better battery life. Another one is the launch line-up, which isn’t very in-teresting. It’s either Street Fighter or Rayman for me, but for now, I’ll wait before I get my 3DS games.

Nintendo has always thrived in the handheld market, and will continue to do so. The 3DS has everyone hyped up that I can’t see it fail. Sure, it might take some time to get started, but I think that we’ll all accept the 3DS as the DS’s successor. Let’s hope it’ll meet with similar praise and success.

Thumbs Up/Down: Massive, Ultra, 3D Thumbs Up


PokemonBlack & White

Developer:Game Freak

Publisher: Nintendo

Pokemon Company

System: Nintendo DS

Release Date: March 4th, 6th & 10th

With 4 generations of adventures including gyms, leagues and evil teams, fans of the series started to complain about everything feel-ing the same. In response, for the first time in history, Game Freak and Nintendo released a second generation on the same handheld. However, to keep things fresh, everything in Black and White is new. So, is the refreshment enough to remake your way to the top, or is it time to put this series to rest?

Intro

If you’re a Pokémon nut, you prob-ably already got this game and are too busy playing it instead of reading this review. Nevertheless, this is easily one of the freshest takes on the franchise in a long time. It’s fun, great for newcomers, and might be the best Pokémon game, and therefore one of the best handheld games ever.

Story

As always, Pokémon Black and White is about a young trainer who just got his or her Pokémon. He/she is sent to find all species of Pokémon. While on that journey, you also beat Gym Leaders and try to become the best Trainer in the world. However, your goals aren’t

made easy thanks to the new evil group, Team Plasma

The story in Black and White makes a drastic change from the recent entries to the series. For one, instead of a 10-year old, you play a teenager. While it might not seem like an important change, it’s just another thing that makes B&W feel like a new experience. On the other hand you have Team Plasma, which are the main focus of the story. If in the first two gen-erations you were dealing with an underground Pokémon-selling mafia, the 3rd and 4th genera-tions presented cheesy “take over the world” organizations.

I think that Team Plasma is a lot more interesting than all the others. I feel that they have a clear and really don’t come over as all that evil (in a good way). They want to free Pokémon from their masters, and considering Pokémon bat-tling is pretty much a glorified version of cock-fighting, I can see clear reason why they would do these things

In addition, their structure, moti-vations and operations are kept as mysteries throughout the game. For the first time in a Pokémon game, I actually wanted to near

the end of the story not for the Legendary battle that awaited. B&W finally advance Pokémon’s story to darker levels, which is definitely a step in the right direc-tion.

It’s not perfect though. I felt it could ex-plore more on the fact that what you’re doing might be wrong, that you’re the bad guy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go there. Still, for Pokémon, it’s probably the best story it has ever told, and while the bar wasn’t raised that high, it’s still a great tale. You actually give a shit about what’s going on.

Presentation

The move from the 3rd to the 4th generations might have been the weakest one to date. From mono-tone to colors to high-quality sprites, many fans were disap-pointed with the previous gen-eration’s graphics. 3D effects and better looking sprites were finally doable on the DS, but that was not the case. Black and White, how-ever, make up for it.

Black and White definitely uses a lot more 3D. There are moments such as the bridge which leads you to that big city, which I thought were breathtak-

By MadHero15 and ElitekillSCREWATTACK MAGAZINE - MARCH18

ing. It also changes the camera angles at times which I thought was very inter-esting as well. Unfortunately, those nice 3D moments don’t appear that often, which is a shame indeed

However, there are many more nice quirks. The best and most noticeable example would be the animated sprites in battle. For the first time, all Pokémon have idle animations. This greatly adds to the battles, and the animations are all fluid even if the Pokémon themselves are not. Also, things like the seasons are nice touches. Let’s not forget the huge amounts of color that Pokémon games have been known to have since the third generation, which are still present here.

The game is nice and colorful, that’s for sure. The animations are fantastic, and while it doesn’t take too long for the Pokémon to replay their anima-tion, it makes them feel more like liv-ing creatures instead of sprites. Even nice touches such as eyes closing when they they’re affected by Sleep are nice. I haven’t been able to fully experience the season yet, since I have the game less than a month

What should be applauded though is the music. While the Pokémon still have the annoying voices (though they no longer sound like they’re from the NES era), the music is probably the best in the series. It doesn’t completely change it, but they do add a lot to what is a fairly iconic score

What I feel is the strongest part of the music is when your Pokémon is low on health. Instead of the an-noying alarm we had to endure for 15 years, you now get a funky remixed tune. Hell, sometime I let my Pokémon get to critical situa-tions just to hear it!

I think it’s great. The bleeping noise has haunted me forever, but the tune they use now in order to show you’re in quite a mess is great. It sounds cool, but you know it’s dangerous. I myself really like the beginning when a trainer battles you. While it sounds similar to the other games, it’s still a nice tune.

Gameplay

The biggest complaint about the Pokémon games is that they all feel the same. Game Freak took notes, and it shows. In Black and White you get a completely new adventure. All of the Pokémon you’ll meet until you defeat the Champion are completely new. While not as a drastic change for veterans like the Physical/Spe-cial split in the 4th generation, it makes the game feel fresh even for gamers who’ve been with the series since the very beginning.

You’re right; all of the Pokémon are new. In fact, you won’t meet any new Pokémon until you’ve beaten the game. So if you want to get a Pikachu or Salamance, you’ll first have to deal with some new Pokémon. That pissed me off at first because I thought most of the Pokémon were horrible looking, but after a while, I’ve grown attached to them. Sure, some of them are just clones of original Pokémon or flat out horrendous, but they grow on you, and you want to catch them all

Not only that, but having only new Pokémon increases the chal-lenge for veterans and put them on an almost leveled field with newcomers. It’s not that I had hard times figuring out which Pokémon is which type (although sometimes I did), but not knowing when my newly acquired compan-ions learn new attacks, how their base stats are laid out and how to evolve them further added to the

fresh feeling of B&W.

That’s true. With Diamond and Pearl, I constantly checked out the new Poké-mon and knew what they could do and how powerful they were. There seems to be a nice balance here, and you get that feeling of exploration such as: When’s my Pokémon going to evolve, or What move will he learn, and what exactly will it do? It’s really weird that it all feels so fresh, considering it’s an age old formula

The new technical additions to the battle system come in the form of Triple and Rotation battles. The former may seem like bigger Dou-ble Battles, but they add another layer of strategy with the Poké-mon’s locations (left, middle and right) limiting different moves. Rotation Battles are more inter-esting as they have you throw 3 Pokémon out for the battle, but only one battles another at each given moment. However, before your attack, you can “rotate” the field, basically changing a Poké-mon without the cost of a turn. These battles add a whole new meaning to a balanced team as each Pokémon needs to be able to stand up to a lot. Unfortunately, both new battles are barely used in the game.

That’s a real shame. Those battles were really creative and added a lot more strategy; it’s a shame that it doesn’t ap-pear all that often, because they were highly advertised. Another new addi-tion is the C-Gear, which is your online


center pretty much. It allows you to find other Trainers and either duke it out, or trade with them. It’s certainly a lot fast-er than going to the Pokémon Center in order to trade there. It also allows access to a place known as the Dream World. I haven’t been to this place yet, but ap-parently it allows you to find new items and even teach your Pokémon all new abilities, which definitely sounds inter-esting

The Dream World does sound nice, and it can really strengthen some Pokémon, but you can only use it in the form of free DLCs, which means that most of it can’t be ac-cessed now. It seems like Game Freak’s way of keeping you play-ing, and we’ll just have to see how it plays out. One complaint I do have about the C Gear is it tak-ing up the whole bottom screen. While when using it the touch screen becomes very useful, a lot of the times you’ll have it off to save battery time. In those cases, the bottom screen is completely and useless. This is really a shame, as the 4th generation games were really inventive with the quick-access menu and the Poketech and Pokeapps.

That’s true. In SoulSilver, you had a button which allowed you to keep the Running Shoes on. Here, you once again need to hold in the B button. It comes over as extremely counterproductive.

I think the bottom screen would’ve worked better if it had buttons like MENU and C-GEAR. Taking the entire screen simply doesn’t seem all that nec-essary.

For the rest, it’s still classic Pokémon. You’ll be facing the Gym Leaders, Trainers, and wild Pokémon in order to level up. The game only really adds to a decade year old formula, and doesn’t change it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and the games most certainly haven’t stopped selling. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Bang for your Buck

It’s a Pokémon game, what do you expect? Since the first generations, which “only” had 150 Pokémon to catch, these games have been the definition of repayable. Now, with almost 700 in total, catching them all should fill up your hours in no time. In addition, like every other Pokémon game before, sometimes you’ll just want to transfer over your strongest and rarest to a safe game and start over. In your new game you could try to have a dif-ferent team, pick up a different starter or focus on a specific type.

That is true, even when you’re done, there’s still so much to do. With 700 Pokémon out there, catching them all is turning into a huge task, and one I think only a few souls will take. If you’re

not into that thing, you can always just continue battling with friends, and see how you might hold up with new Poké-mon on your side. The game is HUGE, and it constantly gives you stuff to do

Conclusion

Pokémon Black and White might be one of the best games in the series, and therefore one of the best portable games ever made. I think I’ll look fond-ly at this game in the next 10 years or so, just like what I’ve done with Silver. While it isn’t perfect, and the mechanics are starting to show its age, it’s a game that’ll have you hooked for months and not let go. The DS could not have wished for a better swan song

You are completely right. B&W have replaced Gold and Silver on the throne of Pokémon, even af-ter the excellent recent remakes. Amazing for veterans and new-comers alike, this is a must have for every gamer. Are you one who thinks that the 3DS has a weak launch lineup? Well, just grab Black and White and join in on the adventure.

Pros

• Feels fresh

• A lot of variety and things to do

• A 40+ hour adventure (at least)

• Great for newcomers

• Excellent graphics and music

• Very addictive

Cons

• Bottom screen mostly useless

• Not enough use of 3D effects

• Not enough use of new battle mechanics

• Some ugly looking Pokemon

Rating

9.5/10


First Impressions:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fifth generation of Pokémon. After 15 years of staying safe, the franchise is turning over a new leaf with the brand new Black and White versions. Touted as the biggest game-changers in the series, should you put down the money for a 40+-hour vacation to the Unova region?

Lately, the Pokémon franchise has been denounced as a rehash of the same game we played a decade and a half ago. Game Freak has noticed these complaints and has made an attempt to shut the haters’s mouths with Black/White. But have the new versions brought anything new to the table? The answer, let me show you it!

Story:

Pokémon games have never had a deep story. Never. Ever. Whether it’s a core installment or a spinoff involving dungeons, the franchise has defied the JRPG convention by focusing more on the aspects of gameplay, and less on a narrative. Game Freak makes an effort to correct this in Black/White,

and it’s an admirable one. Like usual, you are a ten-year-old who’s about to go through his “Gol-Bat Mitzvah” (see what I did there?) by having the opportunity to choose one of the Unova starter Pokémon. Your childhood friends, Bianca and Cheren, are with you to become your riva- err I mean choose their own starter that you can battle with. Sounds like the norm, right? Well, as soon as your trainer enters the first town, he or she encounters a lecture from a man calling himself “Ghetsis,” and making

a speech about “Pokémon Liberation” on behalf of “Team Plasma,” the crime organization of the Unova region. This speech about “Pokémon Liberation” alone beats anything that the past four generations could muster with its plot. The story is centered on the idea that has created a gaping plot hole in the series hitherto. Plasma simply asks the question, “What if the Pokémon don’t like being trapped in balls, huh?” This question creates a great setup for what could have been a profound look at how the core mechanics of the franchise don’t make sense in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. The potential for an excellent story is marooned by the conventional bad guys that many Poké-fans have seen all before. Don’t get me wrong, the ending is epic, but again, it’s ruined by one specific character that throws away the entire concept of “maybe we shouldn’t do the equivalent of enslaving woodland creatures because it might be immoral.” Overall, the story could be so much more, but it misses the mark because of the same ol’ shit that we’re used to getting in the way of the stuff that we want to see more of. It’s the best in the series (with an epic ending), but that isn’t saying much. Game Freak is stepping in the right direction, but it isn’t there yet.

Visuals:

As the second generation to be featured on the DS, Black/White improve more on the graphics than Gold/Silver did on the Game Boy (other than, you know,

Second OpinionReview by g1 SideSmash


ADDING COLOR). Rather than adding more polygons, the game adds a scope to the region, making Unova more of an actual “region” than its forefathers. According to Junichi Masuda, a founding member of Game Freak, Unova is largely based on New York City and the surrounding area, making it the first region not based off of any area in Japan. Castelia City is the most obvious example, hanging along the edge of the sea, and having multiple streets with dozens of citizens flooding each avenue.

Out of all the visual improvements, the gyms really stand out. When entering each gym, you really recognize how far these games have come from a couple of rocks and some stairs leading to Brock. Each gym has something new to offer, from man-cannons to riddles in bookshelves. The Elite Four is also very impressive visually, apart from getting a complete overhaul in structural design.

On the “sprite” side of life, things are a little different. The entire battlefield has received a visual facelift. Now, the pocket monsters are always in motion, and the camera moves around, as opposed to the static angle of days gone by. This spawns both good and bad: On one hand, the whole battle-window is a lot livelier, but on the other hand, when you get up close and personal with the sprites, they show their age. Simply put, the sprites can look so bad that you can almost count how many pixels each Pokémon contains. Overall,

the graphical presentation is a definite improvement over past generations, and if the visuals continue to improve at this pace, “GEN VI” may be in full-fledged 3-D.

Design of the New Pokémon:

For the past few months, there have been mixed opinions on the quality of the new generation’s sprite design. Here’s the verdict to end the argument: Some of them may look pretty dumb, but the overall design is definitely unique. It’s the biggest generation ever (157, to be exact), so it’s no wonder that the designers at Game Freak were running out of ideas. Even one of the designers said that the creative process was “a bastard” and “the hardest part about making Black/White.” The best designs are the starters and their SECOND evolutions (seriously, what the heck is up with the first evolutions? They look phenomenally stupid!). My only problem with the starters doesn’t even have to do with the artistic design – why in God’s name is the fire starter a fire/fighting type mashup AGAIN?! It’s been three generations; can’t we change it up a little?

There are also some questionable design choices with some of the Pokémon, such as Audino, Klink (and its evolutions), Woobat, Palpitoad, Sewaddle, and Vanillish (he’s a fucking ice cream cone). When all is said and done, this generation got bashed WAY too much. It’s not the best-looking set of Pokémon,

but it’s certainly not the worst (GEN III still holds that title).

Outside the Battle:

When discussing a Pokémon title, you must break down the design into two categories: outside the battle and the inside. “Outside” merely means what there is to do other than fight to the faint.

In this respect, Black/White offer more than the usual fare when it comes to content. For the first time, there are brand new towns that can only be explored until after you’ve defeated the Pokémon League (yes, yes, I know; Kanto was also unlockable in GEN II, but I’m being more specific). I’ve always felt that the Pokémon games (excluding the Johto games) have struggled with longevity after the main quest is over. Game Freak has tried to correct this in the past with more legendaries, daily swarms, battle facilities, contests, and a bit more story, but they’ve never come as close to the endgame goodness that was unlocking a WHOLE OTHER REGION TO EXPLORE in Gold/Silver/Crystal/etc. Black/White is as close as it gets when it comes to sheer content compared to that of the Johto games. Remember those features I mentioned earlier? All of those are in Black/White, with the exception of the contests, which are now replaced by “Pokémon


Musicals.” After the 40-hour campaign is over (though I finished it in just under 35), don’t expect to lose interest in the game for a while.

In terms of the new, Black/White adds monthly seasons to the mix of time measuring. Autumn, winter, spring, and summer make their appearance for the first time in the series (in that order), and it opens up new opportunities for season-exclusive encounters with both trainers and Pokémon. For example, there is a certain person from days gone by who makes an appearance as well as an offer to fight you. Once you beat this person, they become available to fight once a day, but ONLY in spring (which will be this May). The seasons add more longevity to the game for those who are patient enough not to change the clocks on their DS (WHICH DOESN’T WORK BY THE WAY HAHAHAHA).

But probably the biggest change to the region is that for the first time ever, there is a total of zero Pokémon from past generations that you can find in the wild. Wait, what?! That’s right; until you beat the campaign, you can’t catch a Pikachu, Pidgey, or even a Bidoof. This is what I meant by Game Freak “turning over a new leaf.” It’s definitely different, and it distinguishes the “newly discovered” region from past generations. The opinion on this design choice will be different for everyone,

but I think it’s a nice change-of-pace from installments in the past. But again, I can’t speak for all Poké-fans on this one.

Another fairly big addition is the version-exclusive areas. Black City and White Forest are in the same area of the map, yet they are very different, and showcase what the version emphasizes in terms of actual geography. White Version is more rural, while Black is more urban. Both are excellent additions that compliment each other in more ways than one – Black City is all about battling and increasing your skill. White Forest is about expanding your Pokédex. You can’t go wrong either way.

Changes have also been made to make the game more accessible to newcomers (as if it wasn’t accessible enough already). “Poké Marts” have been moved into Pokémon Centers, making everything a lot easier to find. Technical Machines (or TMs) can be used an infinite amount of times, giving the player more options to customize his or her team while sacrificing the difficulty of choosing just one of your monsters to have the move.

However, there is one question that needs to be asked: What happened to all of the improvements made in 2010’s HeartGold and SoulSilver versions? Letting your Pokémon follow you, having the running shoes on at all times

without holding the “B” button, and the grid-based bag system are all absent, yet they were welcome additions to the formula. My best guess is that two completely different teams at Game Freak developed HeartGold/SoulSilver and Black/White and they were developed at the exact same time. That’s only an assumption, though; hopefully the fixes made in HeartGold/SoulSilver will be present in the next core entries in the franchise.

I could go on and on, but I think I’ve made my point; Black/White bring so much new and so much different to the table in terms of what there is to do. When you reach the 40-hour mark, you’ll realize that you still have a LOT to do before moving on to your next game. The design of Black/White is excellent, to say the least; but, how do things fare when your Pokémon are kicking the shit out of one and other?

Inside the Battle:

In the Pokémon games, I have always seen a pattern that I call “The Generation Hump.” This “hump” consists of every other title in the series focusing on the battle rather than the region, and vice versa. For example, Red/Green/Blue introduced the whole battle system to us, but didn’t add much to do outside of battle, especially after you beat down your rival, Blue (not Gary Oak people, Blue). Gold/Silver changed this by letting the player go back to


the Kanto region to add around twice the playtime that the original had (while also adding EV training for the hardcore). Ruby/Sapphire took away that feature in favor of the new ability system and double battles. And finally, Diamond/Pearl didn’t add anything new to battling but included even more customization that no one cared about.

I feared that there would be more emphasis on the battle in Black/White, but to quote the Happy Video Game Nerd, “it’s good to be wrong sometimes.”

Black/White doesn’t add a new feature to battles; rather, it introduces more varied types of battles. There are two new kinds of battles, and one mechanic specifically for multiplayer. The least interesting of the pair is the triple battles, which are exactly what you’d think they are. Rotation battles are a lot more unique; just like triple battles, you have three Pokémon out, but

instead of all attacking at once, they lie on a rotator that you or the enemy can switch at any time. This rotational aspect alone adds a whole layer of strategy, in which you must think like the enemy in order to achieve victory. The “rock, paper, scissors” format of the game comes into play full swing here. Finally, the “Wonder Launcher” is a multiplayer exclusive that basically enables you to use items during multiplayer battles at the cost of a currency you build up every turn.

A word of warning though: While you can play both modes online and with friends, both types are emphasized in a different version. If you have Black, then you’ll play a lot more rotational battles, and if you have White, the same goes for triple battles.

What Black/White has brought to the table is more about the way you play, and not how you play it.

Multiplayer:

Game Freak has kept the multiplayer aspect of the core Pokémon games largely the same for the past 15 years. That is 100% not the case in Black/White. Early in your adventure, you are given the device known as the “C-Gear.” This device will allow you to trade, battle, and connect to the Internet… ANYWHERE. That’s right, Pokéfans; you will never have to go to a Pokémon Center again if you want to battle your buddies. This is hands-down one of the best additions to the whole game and to the whole franchise even. Game Freak really had accessibility in mind when they were developing Black/White.

No longer do you have to trudge back to the Pokémon Center just so you and your friend can trade. You can do from ANYWHERE, and you can access your PC during trade, which is a HUGE plus. The only problem with the C-Gear is that when it’s turned on, it can gobble up your DS’s power, so keep that in mind when you have it on.

Aside from the usual suspects, a new and extremely unique feature has entered the ring in the form of the “Entralink.” When you connect with someone, you can enter their world and deliver certain items to them for a currency called “Pass Orbs.” You can use these orbs to buy gameplay boosts,


such as EXP. doubling for three minutes. It’s an interesting concept that I hope to see more of in the future.

In terms of connecting to the Internet, Black/White adds more accessibility to the fray. Now, there is actual matchmaking in battles. No, I’m not kidding.

Go to any Pokémon Center and talk to the woman by the large globe; she’ll fill you in. It’s a definite mind-blower to be matched up with some Japanese kid who’s had the game for half a year, and proceeds to kick my ass. There are other additions, like the refined Global Trade Station and the Global Link, but I think I’ve stressed this point enough: Black/White has the best connectivity and multiplayer of any Pokémon game… Ever.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in Black/White has remained mostly unchanged. But, that is not a bad thing. To those who criticize Pokémon because they believe that it refuses to change I ask, “If it ain’t broke, then why in God’s name would you fix it?” There have been improvements to the battles, like turning the frame rate up to make every move feel less of a chore to watch. Other than that, there isn’t much to say. The core gameplay of this franchise is the same because it doesn’t need to be

different to be fresh.

Music:

The Pokémon franchise has, in my opinion, some of the most underrated music out there. Those who complain about hearing the same piece for every encounter may not realize that those pieces are actually really fucking good. Does Black/White retain this musical excellence that the series has had from the start? OH SWEET JESUS YES.

The soundtrack for Black/White is one of the best in the franchise. Maybe it’s the increase in musical variety, maybe it’s the tone that the battle themes give you, and maybe it’s the fact that these games have one of the best soundtracks out of the whole DS library!

Most notably, the Elite Four battle theme, the Gym Leader music that plays when the leader only has one Pokémon standing, and the final battle with your rival N stand out among the pack. Simply put, the music in Black/White is fantastic, and while it doesn’t beat out the first two generations in terms of quality, it carries the franchise’s tradition of some of Nintendo’s best music.

Conclusion:

So, after fifteen long years of “it’s super effective!” and “critical hit!” does Pokémon deserve your money? Absolutely. Many “professional” reviewers out there have called Black/White the best in the franchise, but they have confused “best” with “biggest.” There is just SOOOOO much to do in Black/White that you’ll have to give up your social life for a few days to explore it all. However, due to its aggravatingly conventional villain, and the lack of innovations made in previous titles, it just misses the mark of being the overall greatest Pokémon game in the history of mankind. However, it is the best since Gold/Silver, and truly deserves your time and money. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fifth generation of Pokémon. Enjoy your stay.

Pros:

+ Profound theme in story

+ Great visuals

+ Seasons truly add to experience

+ SOOOO much to do

+ New battle modes are great additions

+ Version-exclusive areas = more bang for your buck

+ Multiplayer additions are excellent

+ Amazing soundtrack

Cons:

- Story ruined by bland bad guys

- Sprites look awful up close

- Triple battles not as interesting as rotation battles

- C-Gear eats up power fast when turned on

- Not having a social life when you play

Final Score:

9.5/10


Killzone 3

Developer: Guerrilla Games

Publisher: Sony

System: Playstation 3

Release Date: February 22, 2011

Story

The game starts out with you appar-ently playing as a Helghast soldier re-porting for duty. That is until you reveal yourself to be the hero of this game, Serv. Jump back to six months earlier and your right where Killzone 2 end-ed. Visari is dead and now you have to make it back to your ship before it leaves you behind. Which it does. But not before Rico runs off to go do what he does best. Piss me off. Which leaves you separated from him for about six months. Which must have been six months of pure awesomeness. Sadly you meet up with him again. And no Rico doesn’t die in this game. He doesn’t even get hurt.

That was the only thing I didn’t get in this game. Why does he even exist? Bet-ter get back to this review before I go too far off topic. Of cores you get your typical speech towed the end of the game, but I didn’t really pay to much attention to it. Only because I already knew the jest of what he was saying. Now I know the Heroes story is pretty generic, but where the story really shins is with the political side of things. The

Now I had a few exportations for this game. I expected decent gameplay, a half-assed story and a pretty average sound track. Like how most series get by their third installment. But when I played it I found myself finding it hard to put this game

down. And why is that? Because Guerrilla Games didn’t hold back.

Helghast government. It shows how two terrible men just want to take over where the last one left off. That is until you find out that Stahl is really a crazy maniac. (Am I the only one who thinks that he just wants to kill everything?)

Never the less this leads to interesting moments between him and Orlock. The site of the two of them constantly argu-ing over everything shows just how vul-nerable the Helghast really are. They don’t really have a leader anymore and

the ones who are leading are crazier then the Son of Sam.

This tears the Helghast apart. Practical-ly forming two separate fractions trying to kill one another.

However, like I said, the heroes story is a bit too generic and can take you out of the experience rather quickly at some points. Which is sad, because the story with the Helghast pretty much carries everything on its back. This made me


care more for the struggle of the Hel-ghast. I didn’t really care for the Heroes problems until the end. Is it sad that I find myself liking the villains more then Rico?

Graphics

Right off the bat I want to mention just how beautiful some of the places look. Yeah the game mostly has a gloomy look to it; but then there are times when the area your in is bright and colorful. Although the gloominess of this game does help to get you into the mood. Making you feel like your really fight-ing a war.

That being said, you won’t have any problems trying to find your way threw this game. It might be gloomy but not to gloomy. The cut scenes were done extremely well, with the expiations of a few parts with the lip syncing. Seri-ously, it can get confusing when some-one is talking and someone else mouth is moving.

The frame rate dropped a few times, but nothing that seriously effected gameplay. This game shows the power of the PS3 and is just flat out one of the best looking games on the system.

Gameplay

This game plays smoothly. The controls are a bit different from most modern FPS. You zoom in with the right analog stick, crouch with L2 and melee with L1. However, you can change the controls to a more modern feel if you want. As for the difficulty, it can vary from easily

done, to bat $#!% crazy. Which is what the series has always done to me. One second your killing everyone like lames to the slaughter. Laughing at their desolated bodies. The next thing you know the enemy becomes smart and completely demolishes you. Though you will find this game a little easier then it’s predecessors. Yes there is a new addi-tion to the game; where if you fall your partner can bring you back. You get to use a jetpack and a few vehicle missions pop up from time to time.

Also, there is a mission where you have to sneak around in a forest without get-ting caught. Cause once you are, your dead. No problem for me though, but that’s only because I am really good at not being seen. Or it could have some-thing to do with the fact that no one really pays attention to me. Come on I’m stabbing your buddy, pay atten-tion to me, I want someone to see this. The multiplayer in this game is awe-some. I haven’t encountered any lag in this game what so ever. You can find matches quick and easily. Never be-fore has it felt more satisfying to melee someone to death.

Yeah in campaign mode it’s cool but, when you do it to someone online you feel like a ninja. That is until someone does it to you. There are several dif-ferent game types. The typical Death-match and Teamdeathmatch make an


appearance. However, when I play I found myself enjoying one mode above all else. WarZone has got to be the most enjoyable online experiences I have had in years. Basically it’s a mode where the creators threw every team based objec-tive together in one match. Every few minutes the objective changes and you need to adapt or die.

One second you might be playing a simple game of search and destroy, The next thing you could be the target the other team is trying to assassinate. This keeps you on your tows, forcing you to work with your team no matter what. I might not like the level systems in most FPS’s but this game really knows how to do it properly. It gives you what you want without taking away the com-petitive feel. This game could give COD a run for its money in terms of multi-player.

As for the co-op campaign, that’s ex-actly what it is. You play threw the

campaign mode with a buddy. And since you can’t play it online it’s nothing special. That pisses me off. Why ad a co-op mode if your not going to use it for online purposes? That makes it pretty much a useless feature. Also, you can’t play against your friends unless it’s on-line. This is something that only makes me want to scream out with anger. And while I’m at it, I do miss the knife from Killzone 2. Not that that’s really any-thing to complain about seeing that the melee kills are awesome.

Music

I will state that this game has one of the best soundtracks of this generation. The main theme is so epic that it gives me goose bumps just hearing it. The mu-sic really sets the mood for the game. When your in battle it can really start to pick up. This only helps to emerge you into the experience. Yes this isn’t the best soundtrack in the world but it certainly comes close. If I have to find

a problem with it, it’s that it’s a bit to quite at times. Sometimes though the music gets a little to loud, forcing me to have to turn on the subtitles just so I can know what’s going on. I just want to know.

Am I the only one who thinks this soundtrack sounds a lot like Metal Gear Solid’s sound track? Because when I lis-ten to some of the music I can’t help but feel that Snakes going to pop up out of nowhere and fight off Metal Gear Rex. It probably doesn’t help that one of the enemies vehicles looks like Rex.

Re-playability

(Did I add this because I wanted to make a point? Or did I add this because I wanted to make the review longer? You decide.) The campaign might keep you stratified for about 10 hours but, that doesn’t mean you wont go back and play your favorite missions over and over again. The multiplayer is so


addictive that you probable will have a hard time stopping yourself from play-ing the game. God knows I have had the jaws of life to pull me away; I have the claw marks to prove it. So Re-play-ability is at an all time high. Just don’t get to addictive to it.

Conclusion

When I was waiting for this game I found myself preying to god that this game wouldn’t disappoint; luckily it didn’t. Where I though would be an av-erage experience was something much more. It not only meet my exportations, it surpassed them. It’s very rare that I get to play a game that does that for me these days. Guerrilla Games knew what they were doing and it shows. If this company keeps up with this level of content, we might start to see some great things in the PS3’s future. If you own a PS3 then this would be a wel-come addiction to your library of games.

Pros

+ The game play is smooth and simple

+ The Helghast story is awesome

+ The music is epic, in fact one of the best soundtracks of this generation.

+ Multiplayer is one of the most ad-vanced in years

+ Beautiful settings

Cons

- Rico lives

- No online Co-op

- No offline multiplayer

- Terrible lip syncing at times

- Generic story for the heroes

Overral: 9/10. Buy it.

If you have a friend with a PS3 buy it for them.


Dragon Age II

Developer: BioWare

Publisher: Electronic Arts

System(s): PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360

Release Date: March 11, 2011

The tale of the game spans over 10 years within three Acts. It begins with our narrator, a cap-tured clean shaven dwarf named Varric who is being questioned by a chantry Seeker look-ing for answers concerning some world shatter-ing event that remains illusive to us until Act 3 which is very far into the game. Varric be-gins by sharing a popular legend about “The Champion,” our player character Hawk. We get to play during this sequence which essentially acts as a test run for your cho-sen class and thus will be far stronger than the helpless Dark Spawn who turn into a red mist as you mess around with your abilities. Once its done the Seeker doesn’t buy it and Varric shares the real origins of the Champion and how he escaped from the Blight, the ocean of Dark Spawn The Hero of Ferelden faced in the previous game. After the escape thanks to the timely rescue of Flemmeth, Hawk and his family reach their des-tination of Kirkwal only to be greeted by denial into the city. With the help of an idiot uncle the Hawks become indentured servants but now have access to the city which leads us into Act 1 after a year has passed through narration. One of the main differences between this game and Origins is its narrative. The tale of the Cham-pion is indeed a personal one and the events of the world around Hawk never seem to concern him until later into Act 2 and the whole of Act 3.

Though I say narrative, the term is loosely ap-plied here as the player never gets a real sense of where the plot is going other than to reveal what the Seeker is talking about in the interrogation with Varric. Much like in the advertisements, its all about Hawk’s rise to power as he/she makes their way from the slums, nobility, and finally champion. The three acts are loosely linked as one has no real significance to the other aside from showing Hawk’s journey from one to the next.

How the script presents itself and its appeal is completely dependent on the individual play-ing the game. However, if you’re accustomed to Bioware tales then you will not be disappointed. Though one might find the narrative weak the journey it takes you on can be rewarding and like one would expect from a Bioware produc-tion the voice acting doesn’t disappoint.

There has been some mixed opinions about Hawk’s own voice, but after playing through the game twice I’m quite surprised about the difference there is in character depend-ing on your dialogue choices. The difference in tone color from my paragon mage to my wise cracking warrior is surprising. Even more so is what the character says on their own de-pending on your most used dialogue choices. Depending on your most often used dialogue options (Paragon, Joker, Renegade) that is how Hawk will act in public and in those conversa-tions that don’t necessarily use those options


listed above.

It really felt like I was playing with a whole dif-ferent character my second time through which in itself was rewarding enough other than the fact that I was already going to have a different experience gameplay wise.

While it may be fun to play as a differ-ent Hawk, you will always get the same cast of party members. Now obviously that isn’t so much of a problem, we the players tend to grow fond of our comrades and await to learn new things about them as we play the game. Sadly however that isn’t the case here. That is not to say that Hawk’s comrades are ut-terly bland and boring, but because of the fact that we can’t interact with them as often as the Warden did in the previous game, the player will probably not develop any strong bonds with any of them. Conversations with your companions are still in the game, but in the form of quests. If the player checks their journal every now

and then they might see that one of their party members wishes to speak with them at their place of holding. Usually these conversations will lead to a companion or plot quest but very few does it lead to just small talk. Other than in those conversations with Hawk the player can also see their companions converse amongst each other as they travel with him/her.

Unfortunately, most of the time those conversa-tions often involve the touchy subject of Mages and their place in the world, a sort of political matter that doesn’t become really apparent to you until Act 2. If you were to have say Anders, the once sarcastic but now whiny mage from Awakening, and Fenris the former Tevinter elf slave and all around mage hater...well that’s just asking for trouble.

Seriously if you want to hear something not mage related just have Varric and Isabela in your party at all times with any random third party member just for some good fun. Con-versations among those two are funny enough

but just watching them tease the unfortu-nate third party member can be hysterical. Aside from just moping around talking about mages and templars, one thing these guys are effective is at is killing. Despite the design change to make the game look a little more like Mass Effect (really the only feature they brought over was giving the character hero a voice) the core gameplay is still there with only one major change.

No matter what class you choose for your Hawk you can still play as all by switching between any of your party members at any time either to take control of them completely or just to give them specific commands. The player can still use the pause feature in order to strategize your team’s very next move or simply rely on your tactic slots and allow the AI to take care of itself with your given instructions of “Incase this hap-pens, do this.”

Granted the player will probably still need to heal the party themselves but its a small task that won’t get in the way, usually.

Abilities in the game have also been reorganized and there have been some additions as well as some abilities being left out. The Mage’s game breaking Arcane Warrior specialization (special sets of abilities unlocked as you progress in levels) has been taken away and replaced with “Force Mage” which when combined with “Blood Mage” literally turns you into a Sith Lord.

The abilities have been reorganized into more focused areas, letting you know where to find exactly what you need for whatever build you’re going for.

The major change to gameplay that I men-tioned before is that of the basic attack button. in Origins you simply had to pick a target and tap it once in order to allow your character to bash relentlessly until told to stop or your target stops moving. In this game the player must re-peatedly tap the A, X, or mouse button in order to use the basic attack. This might not seem like a big deal but it helps for the player to feel more involved within the fight while applying their various class abilities.

However the feature itself just seems like one step forward, and not a destination to a true action RPG style that Bioware was aiming for. While the action is faster, and actively attacking does make the player feel a bit involved it sim-ply isn’t enough and it shows during boss battles.

The majority of bosses within the game have


high resistances to...about everything you can throw at them and a ridiculous amount of health. If your team is specked well enough you can probably manage to avoid utter defeat, though burning up potions, while only mod-erately shaving the red off their health bar. Its during these moments that tapping the attack button repeatedly feels tedious while you wait for most of your abilities to recharge. You might as well set your Hawk to auto attack while you pitch in every now and then to heal your group. If you could anyway.

The lesser elite enemies have similar resistanc-es, but with not as much health. Its here than you can employ a new tactic called “Cross Class Combos” in order to defeat them quick-ly. Each class can inflict a unique status ail-ment that adds not only a penalty to your enemies, but an opportunity for a combo. For instance, Mages can inflict “brittle” on en-emies by using, say, an ice attack. Then while they’re frozen a warrior can come in and use one of their abilities to shatter or inflict massive dam-age on the brittle target. The possibilities are shown in the ability trees and show how much damage an activated ability can inflict depend-ing on the status of the enemy. These can also be used on bosses if your chance to inflict these ailments are high enough.

You will usually be facing a great many enemies on screen at the same time. This unfortunately prompts for Area of Effect maneuvers (Force Mage is essentially a class to make it easier) and not much else. Granted you will probably prac-

tice different tactics when fighting smaller elite groups, but this isn’t often. The multitude of en-emies you will face at once forces the player to get rid of them as quickly as they can before you get overrun. This may not bother some players, but those more about using different strategies for every kind of encounter....well this is usually every kind of encounter.

Positioning is also very tricky, its no wonder they added the ability to redirect your party mem-bers to a different location (short of just taking control and moving them yourself). Enemies have the tendency to Houdini themselves out of thin air and surround you. One moment you think your ranged soft classes are safe behind tanks (well tank) and the next they’re getting their asses handed to them by bandits who just dropped down from the roofs. If you’re not a tank class yourself, you’d want to take the only one (Aveline) with you at all times for moments like these.

The areas you’ll be fighting in are usually narrow passages as well, making getting surrounded fairly easy. However if fast and strong enough these threats can usually be taken care of easily but can get annoying.

There is never a dull moment however; if you’re not taking part in the main quest line there is always a lot to do in the form of side quests, companion quests, and secondary quests. While much like most people have heard already, ex-ploration is very limited. You’ll get familiar with Kirkwal and its outskirts fairly quickly in Act 1, and will often feel like you’re playing in the same

dungeon even though you swear they all have different names. Interiors are recycled often, so much so in fact that you’ll have a hard time re-membering which one was original.

Despite that its wanting to see the whole jour-ney through that gets the player to keep going despite these details. How Hawk will progress in this world and how he impacts it is what kept me going from beginning to end. The charac-ters, even the ones not in my party are enjoy-able enough with their talented voices that take everything around them very seriously that you believe them as individuals. The actors do not fall short in this title.

It’s always the characters in these Bioware titles that make it so worthwhile for me to play, de-spite any faults in the overall design. Dragon Age II definitely isn’t perfect, but it isn’t far from be-ing a true sequel from its predecessor. Any fan of the original will get their worth from it with over 30+ hours per playthrough, which I say is a pretty good amount of time considering that the game warrants multiple playthroughs. While I spent about 60 on my first run of Ori-gins, even that was a bit taxing for me when it came to creating new characters.I do be-lieve this is a great entry point for anyone new to the series, and those who haven’t played Origins but are interested I’d recommend it, especially if you enjoy RPG titles in general. This has been DonAngel in association with Awesomesauce Productions, adios.



Man! Capcom finally has gotten themselves on the role of reviving the Vs. series since Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, but now they finally created the sequel that the core crowd has yearned for in the past decade. With what Capcom considers to be a smaller roster with more of a balance to please both the casual and core

crowds, is this truly the sequel that we strived for in all this time?

By g1 RRPG

REVIEW

REVIEW

Marvel vs Capcom 3

Developer: Capcom

Publisher:Capcom

System: Playstation 3 & Xbox 360

Release Date: February 15th, 2011

-STORY-

In the Marvel Universe, the cynical tin-can named Doctor Doom has sum-moned forth the greatest villains to come under his wing to take over ev-erything while Albert Wesker from the Capcom Universe does the same thing on his end.

This leads to both madmen to join forc-es so that they can rule over all with nothing to stop them at all.

This causes a war between the heroes and villains of Marvel and Capcom’s side to escalate like crazy, and ongo-ing destruction has brought forth the

greater threat, Galactus, that is more devastat-

ing than the battle between good

and evil.

Knowing from what just happened, the heroes and villains on both sides join forces so that they can rid the threat of the universal dictator, once and for all. It’s a very basic plot that has been done with many other games and forms of media, so it isn’t anything that is groundbreaking or original.

-VISUALS-

Now, most of us who are fans of fighting games from the days of old were very skeptical when Street Fighter IV was go-

ing to have 3D-rendered characters and environments, but what

we didn’t know was that the stages were all

2.5D planes that made the

movement feel like

that of a 2D

By now, you would already guess that playing this game has the basic premise of Street Fighter II, but with tweaks and modi-fications to make it fast-paced and combo-heavy in the gameplay. The first game was more like the standard Vs. game we saw with Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and the second game improved with a giant roster and grueling animation.

Where does Marvel vs. Capcom 3 stand? Let us find out as this game takes us for a ride!


game from the days of Street Fighter II, and it worked really well. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 takes that same approach with their visuals, but the games has a heavier emphasis on cell-shading with bright and vibrant colors. For the most part, it works out really well as Capcom has shown that they can incorporate vibrant color palettes in some of their older IPs like Viewtiful Joe and Ókami.

By comparing this game to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, you can guess that they use the same engine, but with the more re-cent game having an enhanced engine. There is a variety of character model styles that are realistic, cartoonish, and anime-styled, and they work really well together because of the two different factions the game is most notable for. Even the User Interface is styled after comic book strips to give it that flashy edge as if you were actually reading from a comic or graphic novel. Over-all, it’s a colorful and pretty game that overshadows the skeptical concerns that everyone had for the game.

-GAMEPLAY-

Now, here we are at the nitty-gritty on what most of us want to know about the game. Does it have better game-play? Is the roster really well done? How is online play? What are some new ad-ditions to the gameplay in the fights? Well, don’t go rushing yourself with so many questions as things will only get complicated as they may seem. Any-way, let us delve with the first thing that comes to mind; the roster.

There is a grand total of 40 characters in the main game, and those charac-ters from Capcom’s side consist of Ryu (Street Fighter), Chun-Li (Street Fighter II), Dante (Devil May Cry), Zero (Mega Man X), and Amaterasu (Ókami) while the Marvel side has Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deadpool (X-Men), and Iron-Man.

There are a few characters that haven’t been fixed with dif-ficulty that make a return, and I am talking about Tron Bonne (Mega Man Leg-ends), Akuma (Street Fighter II), and Sentinel (X-Men), so that can turn off so many people for that part. The pres-ence of newer c h a r a c t e r s seem like


they are welcome when you look at Mike Haggar (Final Fight),

Nathan “Rad” Spencer (Bionic Com-mando), Dormammu (Doctor Strange), and Phoenix (X-Men) to name a few, but why would you put people like M.O.D.O.K. (Iron Man), Super-Skrull (Fantastic Four), Trish (Devil May Cry), and Crimson Viper (Street Fighter IV) when they seem like they aren’t really that necessary for the game? Where is Strider, Mega Man X, Carnage, and Nightcrawler when you want them more in the roster? How about more Power Stone, Darkstalkers, or Rival Schools characters in the game, for once?

From a casual standpoint, the roster may seem to be interesting and cool in the eyes, but the hardcore fans may find them to be a bit divisive and polar-izing as they are ones that nobody even wanted.

Now, as far as we know, Capcom al-ready has characters set in mind as downloadable content, but they way they are handling them is $5 per char-acter and costume pack. Seriously?! I mean, come on! We don’t want to pay for DLC when we pumped quarters in the arcades to play as our favorite char-acters in a fighting game! We expect

to play as everyone and every mode; free of charge! Other than that, the roster is okay with some that shouldn’t be in it, in the first play, so it comes as a hit and miss. The gameplay, on the other hand, makes up for the average roster of characters because the fight-ing system is very fast-paced and very team-based. As you play the game, there are modes specifically for the of-

fline and online experiences. The offline modes are the Arcade Mode; which acts as your traditional story mode, Versus Mode where you can battle against lo-cal players, Training Mode where you can practice for the harder difficulties, and Mission Mode where you can learn a character’s moves and combinations to know how you can win a battle.

The online modes consist of the typi-cal stuff that you would see from Su-per Street Fighter IV with the Ranked Matches, Custom Matches, Leader-boards, Created Lobbies, and such.

As you can see, the modes are diverse and there is so much you can do like with any fighter, and the new “Shadow Mode” DLC only makes it the better as you can fight AI opponents based off of the tendencies and stats of Capcom staff members and famous gamers from Capcom EVO within the characters by seeing how affiliated they are with fighters. It will prove to be an ultimate challenge, and the mode is truly worth it for being free of charge, on that part.

Now, let us delve into the actual game-play, itself. As you play the game, you can form your own team of characters along with their own assist types and color swaps. There are balanced fighters like Ryu, Chun-Li, Iron Man, and Cap-tain America; heavy hitters like Akuma,


Dante, Sentinel, and Dormammu, and speedy combatants like Zero, Albert Wesker, Spider-Man, and Deadpool. So, there are many combinations of characters you can choose as to best suit your needs for battle. When fighting against the AI opponents, your objec-tive is to defeat them in a “one-round” battle to advance one step closer to the final battle against Galactus.

The battles are 3-on-3 fights where you try to attack a CPU character, normal-ly, with one character and calling oth-ers to assist you with special moves. You can pull off Super Moves to turn the tide of battle when your Special Gauge goes up from attacking and being attacked.

Each character has three different Su-per Moves, and it’ll be up to you to find out which is more beneficial for the upcoming battles. Not to mention, you can do the same thing as the other games where you can call your allies to assist you in doing a Hyper-Combo Su-per Move on your opponents when that Special Gauge is up high.

Also, you can switch between characters and see who you want to have in while the other recovers from their injuries, so there is more tactics to be involved here. You can even jump high as you did in previous games, and you can pull off some air combos for more damage.

Speaking of which, you can call forth other characters to continue the combo count for more damage which is wicked cool.

However, don’t get your hopes up in thinking that you are invincible as the defenseless can strike back with an Aer-ial Combo Counter to stop your hitting streak. And coming back from Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is the Knockback ability to render them unplayable for a tem-porary time while another fighter takes their place. One of the meat-and-po-tatoes that adds to the gameplay is

the “X-Factor” mechanic, and it makes your characters more powerful and fast for about 30 seconds in the fight. When activating this mode, your team will be surrounded by red energy that will strengthen them for a short time, and you can try to win battles more quickly and prevent you from losing very fast.

It’s useful, but it can be cheap when you look at characters with cheap sta-tistics that can turn the tide in no time. Finally, the newest addition not seen in newer games is the “Simple and Nor-mal” control methods.


Simple controls are used for people not affiliated with fighting games that can pull off some very advanced combos, but only restricted to one Super Move. Normal controls is like your traditional fighting game where you use the con-trols to pull off different moves and Su-per Moves based on the input combina-tions.

I wouldn’t normally say this, but the Simple controls method is an insult to the core crowd as it can easily become a decisive battle from behind the scenes.

It’s pretty devilish! Other than that, the gameplay and modes are excellent as the fast-paced fighting and easy con-trols are enough to make you do Drag-on Punches, Proton Cannons, Maximum Spiders, and Spinning Lariats on your foes. It’s really good and not that bad with every difficulty you go through.

-SOUND-

Being a complete 180 from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has a well-round soundtrack that is primarily based on character themes. Yes! Each character has a theme song of their own when you fight them in battle.

The soundtrack is mostly composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa; the same com-poser who managed Street Fighter IV and Super Street Figther IV’s original soundtracks. For the most part, every character theme is nicely placed, and each of them has something that has a techno vibe and nothing that is jazz-

based like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, so it scores big for going back to the basics of the first game in terms of music. There’s music from past games that come back with remixed versions and they don’t sound that bad, too. If you ask me, “I want to take You for a Ride” is a lot better than just being static from MvC2!

The sound effects are fine as they are, and they are recognizable in their own right with the character moves, projec-tiles, and such.

The voice acting is pretty good, too. There may be some from Capcom’s side that may sound out of place for char-acters like Nathan Spencer, Viewtiful Joe, Tron Bonne, and Trish, but most of Marvel’s roster sounds excellent with the English voiceovers. Capcom is the only side that has both English and Japanese voiceovers, so you can change the voice types on those if you want.

You can’t do it with the Marvel side be-cause it is a U.S. property that already sounds excellent with the voice work.

Some of those awesome voiceovers in the game are Kyle Hebert (Ryu), Laura Bailey (Chun-Li), Dan Woren (Arthur), Johnny Yong Bosch (Zero), Reuben Langdon (Dante), Josh Keaton (Spider-Man), Steven Blum (Wolverine and Taskmaster), Nolan North (Deadpool), Wally Wingert (M.O.D.O.K.), and Tara Strong (X-23).

It has really good voicework, and they aren’t that bad to listen to. Now, I won’t

stop anyone who wants to change the voices language on Capcom’s side as it is their decision. Not mine. Overall, the sound department scores big with just about every category as I have no issues with any of them, whatsoever. At least, you won’t listen to jazz from MvC2 or the 80s pop tunes from TvC.

-REPLAY VALUE-

With all the characters unlocked, you would think that the replay factor would be very low, but it actually isn’t. Why? Each character has an ending that can be viewed in the extras, and you can gain newer titles, online ranks, online mottos, concept art, music pieces, voice clips, and so many others because there is so much extra content you can gain from completing the different modes you play in.

With the online mode, you can gain newer ranks based on the number of matches you win, and it’ll be a race to see who the best out of the online com-munity is. Playing as each character to obtain their endings, character models, and other things adds more of a reason to go back and play every single one of them. There are four unlockable char-acters you can obtain from completing the Arcade mode a few times, so there is some redeeming qualities with that, too.

Probably the only reason why anyone, nowadays, would want to go back and keep playing the game and that is the need to try and obtain every achieve-


ment/trophy as they can to win 100% of everything. It takes time, and it is re-warding in the long run.

As you can see from what was said, re-play value in this game is as high as it can be for a Capcom fighting game of this generation, and more so than the other games before this one. Be care-ful if you play online as there may be someone who knows how to beat you down without mercy!

-CONCLUSION-

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is truly a glorious return of fighting games that seems more appealing than Street Fighter IV and most of the other fighters out there, today.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to the online modes or the character roster as a whole, but the gameplay, as a whole, will be enough for anyone to play the game for years on end.

I would advise the public domain to give it a rental to see if you actually like it, and if you get more into its fun factor and replay value, then definitely give it a buy. Marvel vs. Capcom is back, and it is time for both factions to assemble

as we are taken for a bigger ride than before! These are great times to be a big fan of fighting games, again, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a definitive ex-ample of nostalgia coming back right in your face!

-PROS-

• Fast Gameplay

• Colorful Visuals

• Diverse Roster

• Everlasting Appeal

• Maintains core gameplay with well, added mechanics

• High Replay Value

• Large amount of unlockable content

• Great Voiceovers

• Unique User-Interface

• Great fan service from past fighting games

-CONS-

• A few characters are broken

• $5 for DLC Characters and Cos-tumes

• Final Boss is ridiculously cheap

• Simple Control Method is an in-sult to fighting games

RATING:

(10/10) Must Buy!


REVIEW

Beyond Good and Evil? Why would they decide to re-release this game? Read on to find out.

By g1 diamonddigger870

REVIEW

Beyond Good & Evil

Developer: Ubisoft Montepellier

Publisher:Ubisoft

System: Gamecube, Playstation 2, PC,

Xbox, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3

Release Date: December 10, 2003

Story

The fictional city of Hilys is under constant siege by a group of aliens known as the Domz. The people of Hilys are currently being protected by the Alpha Sections but they cannot seem to fend all off the attacks from the Domz. Jade, the heroine of the game works as a guardian angel for those children whose parents have suffered at the hands of the Domz by offering the children shelter and love. Together with her Uncle Pey’j she watches her

How many of reading this review have played Beyond Good and Evil? Not many I assume and that’s a shame. Beyond Good and Evil is an interesting game may have simply be released ahead of it’s time. Hopefully, its re-release will serve as proper

second chance for the franchise because it deserves to succeed.

world slowly turn upside down after an attack on their home from the Domz. Eventually she gets wrapped up in a conspiracy involving the Domz potential relationship with the Alpha Sections, and ends up becoming a crucial element in that rumor. This story may sound cliché but because of how the story is told it manages to become memorable.

Their tale is a harm warming one. The characters are developed nicely with Jade in particular adapting to meet the

challenges that are presented in front of her. However, the story does end on a cliffhanger, but without the promise of a sequel because of the game has been in developmental limbo for years now.

Visuals

The superb art direction is crucial for setting Beyond Good and Evil HD apart from other games released during last generation. The environments are all drawn with distinct colors and interesting shapes to keep your eyes engaged in the world of Hilys. The caves flourish with color combinations of light blue and green for the colors. Collectable gems which work as the games currency are vivid shades of purple. And just like in real life lava is made of unique combinations of red, yellow, and orange. The character design contains just as much variety.

The people of Hilys aren’t composed simply of human beings there are also a variety of animal human hybrids. Jade’s Uncle Pey’j is an example of an animal human hybrid because he’s pig that walks and talks like a human. Other type of animal hybrids included


but aren’t limited to hippos, sharks, and goats. Each different type of character model looks similar to how they sound, only with Beyond Good and Evil’s distinct colorful and cartoonish vibe. The visuals aren’t perfect. At times the game will suffer from performance issues and have trouble displaying textures, but these are few and far between instances.

In short, the visuals aren’t your dull grays and browns.

Music

The soundtrack of manages to capture the unique elements that make up Beyond Good and Evil quite nicely. The main theme is ethereal in its delivery which is reflective upon Jade’s character and her habits of meditation. On the opposite side of the spectrum you have the music for areas such as the Akuba Bar using typical hip hop conventions to create an interesting beat to accompany the setting. Each song is appropriate and well crafted to match its environment and most importantly memorable.

Gameplay

Most people like to compare Beyond Good and Evil to a Zelda type game and that’s a fair comparison. The game takes place in a third person perspective and the combat isn’t the focus of the game. Devil May Cry or God of War this game isn’t. Like Zelda you’ll enter dungeons in a linear order after completing a certain tasks in the overworld of the game, Hilys. Hilys may be a small city in comparison to one of Ubisoft’s more recent games like Assassin’s Creed, but there’s still plenty to do within the city.

Mini games are plentiful in Beyond Good and Evil. For example, you can ride on your hover boat, or your space ship (much later in the game). In these you’ll have battles on sea and air respectively, chase down criminals, or travel to objects. There’s also a unique twist on ski hockey which is a great distraction if you tire of the main quest. Also, you’ll be able to shop at stores to collect items to increase the stats of your characters and to collect pearls which work similar to the stars in a Super Mario 64 in that

they unlock more areas for you to explore. The techniques to collect the Pearls aren’t limited to simply buying them; you can also take pictures of wildlife to earn Pearls.

That’s right, Jade has a camera and she’s not afraid to use it. The specimens that you can take pictures of range

humans, to animal human hybrids, to the games unique animals which each type of specimen providing a small sum of money to Jade and after a certain amount of pictures you’ll earn a pearl. The most important purpose of Jade’s camera is to take photos of the environments she explores to succeed in her mission of proving the Alpha


Sections are in league with the Domz. For Jade to succeed in her mission she’ll require certain stealth techniques to remain hidden from guards.

Jade isn’t powerful, but she’s incredibly clever. The Alpha Section guards wear a lot of armor that’s incredibly difficult to pierce through, so she has to find different ways to defeat them. She can sneak past enemies and attack exposed weak spots or use her own attacks such as projectiles to direct enemies away so she can progress through. It may seem like standard stealth, but with the game’s level design it manages to stay interesting for most of the game. However, they’re will be times when stealth isn’t a option so you’ll have to run away.

These escape sequences provide a quick and exciting rush if done correctly. Jade will have to run away from enemies on roof tops while dodging obstacles and explosions and these are fun moments. Although I wish that they were a bit more common or more varied. There were only two chase sequences but they weren’t that different from each other, with the second one dropping more objects and guards to prevent your escape.


Jade is fast, and able to perform many tricks during combat. By simply pressing the attack button she’ll attack but if you change direction during your attack Jade will follow. This makes taking out enemies in a swarm particular easy especially since most enemies will fall in a single hit. The combat system appears to be designed to highlight the animation and it shows. But, the combat remains satisfying even if it may be simple. However, when enemies are bigger guards that don’t fall from a single hit then relying on your computer controlled partner is the solution.

These A.I characters are hard not to love. Especially with how useful they can be to solving puzzles and in combat. Pey’j’s wrench, for example, is good for cutting down wiring obscuring your path, or can even be used to fix broken electrical equipment.

During combat he can temporarily hold enemies in the air to be beaten down or used to solve environmental puzzles. None of these elements are as interesting as some of the banter you’ll hear between Jade and her partner. There’s a genuine interesting relationship between these characters

that can be seen between their jokes, signs of concern, and the improvement of their bond throughout the game. And touches like these help to make Beyond Good and Evil stand as its own.

Conclusion

I’ll never understand why Beyond Good and Evil failed to succeed at retail when it was released last console generation on each platform.

The excuses for this game not performing range from the game’s marketing

Overall 9/10 (Buy it!)

campaign and its competition around the release, competition like Prince of Persia (2003).

Word of mouth should have been enough for Beyond Good and Evil to perform well at retail. Why? It’s because of how seamlessly the elements of the game blend to create a unique experience, an experience that manages to hold up even without being rendered with HD graphics technology.

You should try it out.

Pros

+ Well crafted stories, characters, and environments

+ Interesting blend of a myriad of gameplay styles

+ A lengthy quest

+ Great animation

Cons

-Some visual inconsistencies

- Cliff hanger ending














To Be Continued


My First Time...

I first encountered this story in the form of an audio book back when I was, like, 12 or 13. I was in between second & third grade. It wasn’t a normal audio book though. It was a Binaural Stereo 3D Sound Audio Drama. In short it was a surround sound audio drama made for stereo headphones. It was a life chang-ing event. First, it began my love of au-dio dramas. Second, it scared the shit out of me, not to mention my 8 year old sister, & began my obsession with Ste-phen King Books. In short I highly rec-ommend it.

Story

The story is set in Bridgton, Maine. It centers around an artist name David Drayton as he and his son are trapped in a local supermarket, along with

Hey there g1s, Kenshiro here. I’m here to review a movie I recently watched... This one holds a special place in my heart. It is an adaptation of my first Stephen King story, The Mist. It also stands as one of my favorites of his works. It ranks right up there with the Stand & the Green Mile, IMO. This movie was as about as perfect an adaptation as

I could have asked for. It also had an ending that would have done Richard Bachman proud.

- Movie Review -

other residents, when an unnatural fog blankets the town. This mist reduces vis-ibility, completely, to zero, it also hides a horrific danger. Also in mist, are EX-TREMELY lethal creatures, like giant man eating tentacle monsters & spiders. This makes going out the mist pretty much a death sentence. Along with this, ALL forms of communication, like radi-os, TVs, & phones are down. It is implied that the mist has something to do with this as well.

David and his son are trapped in the market as he and the other townsfolk try to fend off the creatures trying to break in & figure out a way to escape. The focus however is about how these events bring out the monster’s within the people as it becomes more and more evident there is no escape and no help is coming. As things get more and more desperate, civilization slowly

breaks down & the people begin turning on each other and turning to ANYONE that can offer them hope. This results in the local religious zealot & town nut job forming a cult around herself. Eventu-ally they become a greater threat to the survival of David his son more than the mist & the creatures within itself.

David Drayton, was played by Thomas Jane. He did an OUTSTANDING job bringing the character of David Dray-ton to life. His performance was PER-FECT! He NAILED Drayton’s character.

He was an average, American, upper middle class, loving father, trying to protect his family at ALL COSTS. There is NOTHING special about who he is or what he does. He is just a normal person thrust into EXTRAORDINARY circum-stances. At no point did he come off as an action hero. He was just a normal


guy doing what needed to be done to project those he loved. DEADSPACE YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THIS! Every subtle emotion, every sob, sob every outburst, every look of shock & utter horror felt real. EVERYTHING he did came off as genuine. His charac-ter is also extremely well developed. It is developed, subtly, throughout the film as he interacts with the supporting cast and reacts to the situations he is tossed into. You will find yourself genuinely for and about what happens to him.

The Ending

The original novella’s ending leaves off in a cliffhanger. Unlike the original no-vella, the movie has an actual ending. It’s a GOOD ending too. It was one that even impressed Stephen King himself. However it was NOT a happy ending in ANY sense of the word. It was VERY Bachmanesque. By that, I mean it was very dark, tragic, & ironic. It WILL piss you off. But the fact that it is able to elicit such an emotional response, IMO, is testament to how good the movie & its characters are.

Music

Music in this movie was composed by Academy Award-nominated composer Mark Isham. It is used minimally. It is used instead only to highlight some of the more emotional scenes like the end-ing. This was done to give the atmo-sphere more of a heavier, more oppres-sive, & overall subtly scarier feel. It was also done to maintain the documentary style of the film was shot in. It was shot in this manner in order to make you feel as though you were actually there with the characters. But the music that is present... MORE than accomplishes

this en. Its wailing theme, Host of the Seraphim by Dead can Dance, is a slow, mournful, ethereal, and epic aria that was intended by the director to sound like a funeral cry for the human race.

Evaluation

So what did I think of it? If you couldn’t tell by now I LOVED it! As a fan of the original story this was an ALMOST PER-FECT adaptation. The amount of fidel-ity to the original story’s plot placed into this movie by its director, Frank Darabont, is just ASTOUNDING! This movie is true to it down to some of the TINIEST & most insignificant details, like the comic books David promised to get his son when he went over to the phar-macy. Even the creatures themselves looked true to their descriptions in the story.

That is not to say that it doesn’t change some things though. It did change a few things. However they were rela-tively minor things, and they had no bearing on the overall plot. Often time the changes seemed to been made to ease the print to screen transition and maintain the overall story. Some of

them helped bypass obvious exposition that just doesn’t work too well in mov-ies. Others were to update some of the characters and help the movie feel a tad more relevant.

Some of these differences include the revelation of what caused everything. In the book it was done through exposi-tory discussions where the characters shared rumors. These rumors focused on the mysterious Arrowhead Project at the local military base. Rumor had it they were working on creating gate-ways into other dimensions.

This implied that everything was caused by a malfunction at the proj-ect, brought on by the severe storms. In the movie these rumors are revealed though interrogation of one of the local enlisted boys that worked at the base. Another major change in the story was that Old Lady Carmody into, a younger Mrs. Carmody. However while these de-tails were changed the core of the story remained the same. Carmody was still an religious/occultist zealot & local nut job. And the mist was STILL implied to be a dimensional rift caused by the Ar-rowhead Project.

Overall this adaptation was spot on PERFECT! It nailed almost every little aspect & detail of the story to a TEE. It didn’t change or cut ANYTHING from the actual story. Not only that but it actually managed to bring the story to an impactful resolution that, while if not happy, honored the source and did it justice!

I give this adaptation 4 Kings out of 5.


Maked Rider Kiva

Review by Kenshiro3

Production Company: Toei

Country of Origin: Japan

Media: Live Action Tokusatsu Series

Year of Airing: 2008-2009

Hey g1’s, Kenshiro3 here. Long Time no blog. I’m here to bring you another awesome tokusatsu review! This time I’m bringing you my review of Kamen Rider Kiva. This is a follow up to the Ka-men Rider Decade review I did last year. It took me a bit longer than planned to get to this series! But, FINALLY, I have finished it! I have to say, IT WAS FUCK-ING AWESOME!

A while back I was introduced to the sheer AWESOME that was Kamen Rid-er, with the series Kamen Rider Decade. I even reviewed in one of the most epic & detailed reviews I have ever done. I

intended to continue right after it with Kiva but got sidetracked with other things. Well I am BACK on track and here to bring you my review of Kamen Rider Kiva.

First off, I need to explain what Kamen Rider is. It’s a Japanese Tokusatsu (spe-cial effects) Super Hero series similar to the Power Rangers. In fact it created the henshin (transforming hero) sub-genre of Tokusatsu series. It is actually the older brother of the Sentai series upon which Power Rangers is based. Its plots are also a bit darker, more ma-ture, and over all just more complex. The name Kamen Rider translates to Masked Rider.

If you love super hero series of ANY kind you REALLY owe it to yourself to at least give Kamen Rider a try. Just make sure you watch the original and not the white washed/Americanized versions.

They (the American versions) tend to be toned down, altered, & otherwise butchered. This is a real shame given

that the source material is of outstand-ing calibur.

Due to the rather unconventional struc-ture of Kiva, in order to avoid spoilers, I have to remain ESPECIALLY vague in the synopsis. This includes leaving out MOST key points and characters. Due This is because of who they are and or their relationships with the rest of the cast are part of MAJOR spoilers.

Story

So what is Kiva about? It’s about a shy & socially deficient shut in named Wataru Kurenai & his father Otoya Kurenai. Wataru happens to be the inheritor of a mysterious power that turns him into a masked & armored motorcycle riding superhero called Kiva. The show centers around Wataru and his free spirited, womanizing, and rather idiotic father whom he never knew. It centers around how their fates intertwine with each others’ as they are pulled into a war between the Aozora Organization who protects humanity & shape shifting


vampire like monsters called Fangire who feed upon it. Another big part of the story is Wataru’s Kiva powers and their connection with the Fangire Race.

One of the unique aspects of the series’ is its story structure. It has a chrono-logically non linear plot that suddenly jumps between time Wataru’s time pe-riod in 2008 & his father’s in 1986. While decidedly jarring and disorienting, sur-prisingly, does not result in a disjointed plot.

In fact it is quite the opposite. They, surprisingly, piece together a richly de-tailed and COHESIVE story. The two simultaneous, timelines work like two halves of a zipper. The events jump back and forth in timeline setting up & linking events in the other time period. Each timeline’s events fits together like the teeth of a zipper. Due to this fact I have to remain EXTREMELY vague on the plot points as. ANY little spoiler will unzip the rest of the plot. This also means that I can’t talk about the awe-some, prominent, & important mem-ber of supporting cast as he sort of acts like the zipper & link between the two timelines... You guys have NO idea how frustrating this is for me having to tell you almost NOTHING about the over-all plot or characters beyond its setup.

Characters

The characters of the series are EX-TREMELY well developed. You actually manage to actually get to know who they REALLY are and care about them. They are also rather three dimensional as well. Many seemingly evil monsters in fact have a sense of nobility & motives that end up having them allied on the side of good and vice versa. There are “good guys” you will genuinely hate & “bad guys” you will find yourself root-ing for.

Jirou/Garuru/Ixa Prototype

Then there is one character that I can-not talk about that you will absolutely love & hate at the same time. His name is Jirou. He is the last of the Wolfen Race (Wolfman). He is also the first user of Ixa. He is one of the most prominent members of the supporting cast. He is also arguably the most important. He is the ONE major character that runs

between & plays a major part BOTH timelines. The dude is cool as hell, ba-dass, & a bit douchey. Sadly, I am un-able to tell you more about him as who and what he is fall into the uber terri-tory! He and Otoya are the most AWE-SOME characters of the series.

Wataru Kurenai/Kiva

Wataru is the son of Otoya & Kamen Rider Kiva. He is a violin maker. He is extremely shy and lacking in ANY social skills what so ever. He has no confidence what so ever. This slowly changes as the friends he makes and the battles he is force to fight slowly bring him out of his shell little by little. His character ranges from moderately to EXTREMELY an-noying. But, I get the feeling that was kind of the point because, as his confi-dence builds throughout the series, he becomes less annoying and more awe-some to the point where he is a TOTAL BADASS at the end of the series.

His dream it to create a Violin that surpasses the one his dad made and left for him called the Bloody Rose. He also shares the dream of protecting the music within people. The Bloody Rose is possessed by the spirit of his father & alerts Wataru to Fangire danger by playing itself. This sound, in turn, com-pels Wataru to transform into Kiva and fight them. Wataru finds himself destined to finish the battle against the Fangire that his father started.

Otoya Kurenai/Ixa Prototype

Otoya is Wataru’s father. He is a TOTAL PIMP! The dude is a ladies’ man. He is a genius & ALSO a complete IDIOT! The dude NO common sense what so ever. This dude is the Second Coming of KAMINA. He is EQUAL parts genius & idiot and MANLY AS FUCK! When Death comes knocking on his door he decks him with the Ixa Knuckle & tells him to BACK THE FUCK OFF!

He gets entangled in the war with the Fangire when he mistakenly tries to protect a woman he has been hitting on, Yuri Asou. He joins the Aozora Or-ganization in order to protect, hit on, and earn Yuri’s affection. He eventu-ally inherits the Ixa System and becom-ing Kamen Rider Ixa. His dream is to “protect the music inside EVERYONE’S


heart.” And that he does. This mission is later passed on to his son who inherits the power of Kiva.

Nago Keisuke/Ixa ver. X & XI

Nago Keisuke is a bounty hunter and a soldier fighting the Fangire for Aozora Organization. He is also the wielder of the PERFECTED Ixa System. His dream is to build a utopia where EVERYONE can live to their fullest potential in piece & harmony. He has a very kind His gen-erous personality. Only weakness is his inability to acknowledge his own limi-tations & weaknesses as he sees them as imperfections. He is OBSESSED with perfection. He HATES imperfection and is very cold towards those he sees as not living up to their fullest potential. This leads to VERY interesting conflicts within his character, as his warm & gen-erous side battles with his cold perfec-tion obsessed side. He slowly comes to grips with his own “imperfection” and thus more accepting of others along the way.

Nago has an EXTREME hatred of Kiva. He sees him as humanity’s enemy due to the previous Kiva’s actions. In fact, Ixa was created to COUNTER the previ-ous Kiva. This makes Nago a loose can-non as his drive to kill Kiva get in the way. He will go OUT of his way to fight Kiva even if it endangers his mission or others. This often gets in the way of his mission and often ends up SABOTAG-ING it. Nago is also Wataru’s Mentor &

friend. He also has no idea that Wataru is Kiva for most of the series.

Fangire

The Fangire are vampire like shape shifting monsters made of stain glass. They feed on human life energy by ma-terializing stain glass fangs that stab a human and channel their life energy to them. When this happens the humans fade into nothingness. They see humans as nothing more than cattle & food. It is FORBIDEN for them to love a human. If they DO they are considered traitors.

They are lead by a group of Fangire called the Checkmate Four. They their names are Rook, Bishop, Queen, & King. Each has a specific job. The Rook as the Enforcer. The Bishop organizes and maintains Fangire Society. The King keeps human evolution in check and prevents them from EVER becoming a threat to Fangire. And the Queen is charged with executing traitors who fall in love with humans. And the Queen is charged with executing traitors who fall in love with humans providing the King with an heir.

Themes

The BIGGEST theme running through the series is concept of Destiny & Fate and being bound to it as Wataru finds himself finds himself forced to finish the battles his father started. The series theme song Break the Chains is a refer-

ence to Wataru fighting to find a way to break the chains of fate and make his destiny HIS OWN to determine.

The other large theme, running throughout the series, is familial duty & responsibility. MANY of the charac-ters find themselves trying to fulfill the wishes of their parents & trying to figure out exactly what their parents wanted for them. Some find themselves trying to protect their family at ALL cost. Oth-ers fight to carry on their family line at all costs. Some find themselves AVENG-ING their family members.

The other major theme present in the series is music. Wataru and his father are BOTH genius violinists The violin Bloody Rose plays a prominent role in the series alerting Wataru to Fangire Threats. It is also used symbolically to represent peoples hopes, dreams, and desires.

MUSIC

As I said music also plays a LARGE part of the series as well. the funny thing is MANY of the actors of the series are singers themselves. Much of the show’s music is performed by them, in fact. Nago & Otoya are played by PureBoy’s. There is even a hilarious reference to this fact, called the Otoya Dance, in the series where Otoya & a few other peo-ple spontaneously perform one of the PureBoy routines in the background. The actor that played Wataru was also the Lead vocalist for Tetra Fang. Tetra-


Fang was a band created to promote the series but ended up continuing due to popularity. And DAMN was their music awesome. My favorite song from the show, Destiny’s Play, was done by them, as was most of the music.

EVALUATION

Now that I have the plot & characters out of the way. That just leaves my thoughts on the series. I REALLY enjoyed it a LOT. The Action and special effects were extremely well done. The charac-ters were well EXTREMELY well devel-oped. You actually get to know who they are. Kiva is a SUPERB tokusatsu series with GREAT characters, action, music, and good amount of depth. And the show never gets stale. The series does a great job of sucking suck you in. Each ep manages add something new and/or add a new twist or development to the characters enough to keep you coming back each ep. Before I knew it, I was on last ep and the series was over. And TALK ABOUT AN ENDING HOLY CRAP...

That being said, it is not without its faults. It contains a GOOD bit of cheese. But IMO, the cheese adds to its charm. It can often be quite cliché & stereo-typical at times. Also the performances from the cast tend to come of rather for a lack of, a better term, hammy. It’s not that they were particularly bad they just often felt natural. The only performances that really felt superb to me were Jiro’s & Otoya’s. This is ESPE-

CIALLY ironic considering that Otoya is the HAMMIEST character of the series... However his character is PURE AWE-SOME manliness wrapped in a ham & cheese sandwich.

Then there is Wataru... As I mentioned he ranges from moderately to EX-TREMELY annoying. I’m not kidding his Aspbergers’ type personality is REALLY REALLY GRATING! He comes off as a bit of a crybaby. The Funny thing is he doesn’t really come off as emo. It has more to do with his complete lack of so-cial skills as a result of growing up clois-tered and isolated from most human contact. He isn’t a self-absorbed self pitying whiny I wish I were dead emo. It’s more like he’s scared and doesn’t know what to do so he keeps retreating back into his shell. This given the context of the series, he as a social pariah due to his strange behavior, it actually makes sense .

The only time comes off as even RE-MOTELY emo is when he travels back in time to his father’s time period... But that is the most AWESOME part of the series and by its end turns Wataru into the ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME & COURAGEOUS CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES!

While the Characters tend to be rather stereotypical they end up being EX-TREMELY well developed and exhibit a SHOCKING amount of personal growth and depth. Overall This series is a MUST watch for Tokusatsu fans. I would also HIGHLY recommend this to fans of su-perhero series. But if you can’t handle a

fair amount of Ham & cheese & annoy-ing main character this series may not be for you.

PROS

-FAST PACED

-Extremely entertaining well developed characters & story

-Unique story structure

-INCREDIBLE music

-GREAT Action

-Good Special Effects

-OTOYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Everyone looks like they are from a modeling agency

CONS

-Hammy performances all around

-Cheesy Dialogue

-The main character tends to be rather annoying

-The time period shift suddenly & with-out warning quite often & tend to be EXTREMELY Jarring

-Everyone looks like they are from a modeling agency

I give it 3.5 Kivats out of 5.


The Thing About Ripoff Complaint

By g1 Game Judge


Greetings, fellow g1s. I’ve been ponder-ing this through a large amount of time. Usually, when I see a negative review, I hear the term “rip-off”. A rip-off is ei-ther a product that is not worth all the money you spend for it, or a duplicate of a different product with a different name slapped onto it.

My mind at first was against this sort of thing as it has become very mo-notonous to see the same thing being copied over and over again. Then my mind debated that I liked some things that did just that because the formula of said thing was enjoyable to through over and over again. But then that was counterattacked by the idea that some formulas get altered to become differ-ent, leaving my mind to wage a meta-phorical war against itself with the vari-ous ideals that were flying from one side to the other.

Now, before I can talk even more about how things have been ripped off in various ways, I first have to talk about the complaint itself. When a viewer witnesses that a particular part of a game or movie has similar, if not identical elements of a different game or movie that they have experienced, their mind recognizes it and the per-son begins to think that this lacks any sense of originality whatsoever, which may turn them off. But here’s the thing, people only refer to something being a ripoff, when various other factors of the product do not work fully to their ad-vantage. Allow me to go deeper on this. If we want to strip everything down

to the lowest form we wanted to, ev-erything would be considered a ripoff. Think about it. Love, hatred, conflict, war, unity, conservation, sins, purity, morality, allignment and various other philosophical terms have been sewn into various stories. Including those that the creative design to us or the realistic that tell tales about thier older days.

We’ve all experience the same emo-tions, we’ve all been X years old at some point or the other, we all have finger-prints. Simply put, nothing truly in this world is, or ever can be purely original. The thing that seperates us from one another is not how we’re completely different than others, having our own little bubble that no one will be able to comprehend and decipher, but how we have been crafted in a differ-

ent way with similar properties and take different parts of the world and morph them to our own vision. Mov-ies and games work like this as well. The thing with those things though is that some of us can’t appreaciate it when it rips off something in a way that is inferior to the original portrayal af-ter realizing it’s a copy. For example, when Avatar came out, everyone, in-cluding me, hated it. The reason? It was basically Ferngully and/or Pocahontas with a more alienistic and fantasy-like feel coat of paint on it. Now, before I continue, I must address that even though I dislike that movie, it could have been worse. At least the look of the movie was nice, and I appreci-ate the effort they had when making the visuals, despite not being much of a graphics-goggler. It didn’t deserve that much hate as it attempted to do a little more with it’s story. Not that much, but enough to at least make it something that a person may con-sider renting. Now that I got that out of the way, allow me to continue. The thing with repainting a story is that if you basically add nothing truly ground-breaking to your “rip-off”, people will dislike it more. Flip’s Twist-ed World gained a reputation for be-ing a mediocre game mainly because it did not add anything to the rip-off of Super Mario Galaxy that was truly outstanding other than it was a dif-ferent set of backgrounds and char-acters. It’s not usually wise to just take a story and slap many minor changes


(the design of the character, their occu-tation, the location) to it. Rather, you have to suckerpunch the story with a few major changes (the feelings of the character throughtout the story, the conflicts between characters, the atmo-sphere). But you know what’s weird, with that said? TV parodies usually are “many minor changes to a story” played for laughs. And yet people seem to think it’s alright. Then again, I sup-pose playing a story for laughs is con-sidered alteration of the atmosphere, so I suppose it’s ok. Speaking of which, alteration is an important term here. In school, when you copy and paste a paragraph that greatky expresses your point-of-view on something and place it on an assignment, you’re plagarizing. Yet if you were to take that same para-graph and word it differently, you’re para-phrasing. Also known as, altering that paragraph. It’s a way to display the point that you’d like to express that someone else has, but say it in a differ-ent way.

Alteration is done in various games and movies, and it’s what seems to make a rip-off, not much of a rip-off. Yet, if your alteration bombs and the fridge logic hits them that your creation was merely a previous creation with a dif-ferent enough feel to it, they’ll dis-like it even more than they did when they saw that your creation was a dis-sapointing experience for them. That’s

the main two problems the repaint-ing of a story that make it become notorious for being a rip-off. If you make little changes that don’t make that much of an impact on a creation, or if your creation is discovered as a ri-poff of a different creation despite it having a good sense of alteration. Or it could be a poor sense of alteration combined with it’s somewhat plager-ized method. Let me explain that a little better. We’ll use the examples of Barb Wire and Avatar. Boy, I never thought I’d be putting those two films in the exact same sentence...but here I am, doing just that. Anyways, Avatar was a rip-off of Ferngully and/or Pocahontas, while Barb Wire was a rip-off of Casa-blanca. Both of them did not do that


well with others. But the key difference is that Avatar became the grounds for a war that would never end, while Barb Wire was generally disapproved of from many viewers. Why? Well, James Cam-eron managed to blossom the enviro-ment that the movie was taking place. The characters might have still been the cardboard cut-out from either movie it was ripping off, but give the man credit for doing some creative changes. Barb Wire on the other hand changed the way that some events took place, but never changed the development of the characters or the surroundings. All it did as much as a drastic change is add a blond bimbo that can’t act, even if her life depended on it, as the main pro-tagonist to show off her massive rack. Now, the other method of “ripping off” that is less criticized is taking vari-ous different concepts to combine them into one creation. If you’ve noticed some of the best films on your list, you may notice that they’re not original at the slightest. But do you complain? No. That’s because they take so much

from other things and mash it up into one single project. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, my favorite movie, borrowed from the Golden Age of Cartoons as well as various noir films. Star Wars, one of the greatest films in the world bor-rowed from westerns, samurai movies, science fiction, fantasy, action movies and more to create a breathtaking experience. Matt Greoging took vari-ous pop-culture references into hist two shows, the Simpsons and Futurama. Now, why don’t people complain that it took all of these creations and cre-ated some warped fanfiction with their own OCs? It’s because it took a bunch of different ideas, altered them a little bit and made it into one new creation. The best way to explain this is with tropes. We’ve all seen tropes, right? They’re everywhere. But do we com-plain about every single trope? No. It’s because tropes that have been used a lot can be inverted, parodied, subvert-ed, etc, to make a different expression of said trope. That way, the trope can be exploited in a new and more inter-

esting way. Now, I’m starting to feel contradicting with saying that certain aspects are new when I stated that nothing in this world is original. In fact, the following points are basically the points that I’m trying to make here. Nothing nowadays is original when it comes to components. If we wanted to complain about originality with ev-ery work that came our path, we’d be fighting non-stop. Yet, creativity thrives as it takes what we already have and makes something different out of it. Is it original? The components aren’t. But the form and structure of the creation is. That, to me, is what complaining about originality really means. That something has the exact same compo-nents as something else. Can this still be considered a complaint? Not entirely. Even if it’s too blatant, does not alter enough for the viewer to discredit it and consider it a creative spin and does not offer anything for the viewer to gain enjoyment from it, complaining about it is a tad silly. The complaint can only be truly justified is a person is taking a creation that isn’t theirs and calling it their own without any alteration or with very little alteration (which means remixes) or giving someone credit. I’ll say this though, you can still say that a person did not fully manage to cre-ate something more with the compo-nent that they had (I mean, Sonic fan-characters are basically like that, and I can’t say I’m a fan of them). And you can still dislike something that was al-tered. Various other things come into play, such as if the creator is admiring something that they use or if you en-joyed seeing the change of something. But this still leaves me with questions. How are you not sure it was merely coincidence? And shouldn’t some-thing be judged by it’s own merits to be criticized fairly rather than it’s con-nections? Don’t we like certain things that turn out to be very generic? There you have it. I tried to make my point as clear as I could, and I feel as though I’ve still left some mixed mes-sages, but just know that trying to talk about creativity (alongside originality), is no easy subject. Ask any philosopher or pyschologist, and you’ll see what I mean. Hope that you understood my point and liked my blog.


Every day, when I get home from work, or just have a really cruddy day, I can always rely on one thing: Killing Johnny Cage. That makes my day much more enjoyable. Mortal Kombat’s demo is more than just a one-player and two-player fighting game trial, it’s a return to the good-old-days of beating your opponent senseless enough to rip their torso out of their body or make them fall into a pit with an uppercut, while making the game highly advanced with

features never before seen within the series. The MK demo, which is available to download on the PlayStation 3, features Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mileena, and…Johnny Cage.

My thoughts on adding the Dan Hibiki of MK to the new MK are comparable to seeing your family getting hit by a train: Devastating. Seriously, his best move is the “Nut Punch.” Really, Ed? While some people will prefer Johnny, I prefer to use actual characters with meaning in the universe (read: all other characters, even Stryker).

The demo will allow you to fight these four characters through the arcade mode known as “Ladder.” Only two stages are playable in the demo, but I couldn’t have asked for two better stages to play on. You can play on “The Pit” or “The Living Forest,” each of which as a stage fatality included. I couldn’t seem you get the stage fatality for “The Living Forest” to work, but I hear some people did.

One of the more noticeable features added to the series is an improved and advanced combo system. The combo system is equivalent, if not almost as good as Super Street Fighter IV’s combo system. Even by looking at some of the trailers, you can already tell the

difference between MK3 and the new MK.

While MK vs. DC Universe was an awesome addition to the series, the story and fatalities were subpar at best. Ed Boon brought the series back to its roots – literally. The story, as said by Boon, will start off with Raiden about to be killed by Shao Kahn. Just before he delivers the final blow to the lightning god, Raiden sends a telepathic message to his earlier self to reverse the outcome of the future.

Another feature that will be returning to the series is the infamous “Test Your Might” mini-game. Added on to the mini-game feature is “Test Your Sight,” a switcheroo memory game, “Test Your Strike,” a similar proponent to “Might,” but involving precise accuracy of hits, and “Test Your Luck.”

“Test Your Luck” is a special feature to me because it tests how well you can do under random situations. For example, your opponent will be Liu Kang, you can’t jump, you’re both headless, the blood is rainbow colored, and your character is Reptile. I know that this would be an awesome match for DigitalDebaser, but for me, I know nothing about Reptile, so it sometimes puts you at a disadvantage. The “luck”

Mortal Kombat Demo ImpressionsBy g1 Cyrax


mini-game can consist of a minimum of three slots and a maximum of five slots.

Something else you may have noticed from looking at the gameplay footage is the three bars at the bottom of the screen. When one bar is filled, you can use an enhanced special move. When two are filled, you can use a combo breaker.

When three are filled, you’ll be able to use a devastating X-Ray move. The new X-Ray moves allow you to hit your opponent with a bone-crushing, muscle-straining, organ-destroying series of hits. Also, if you have an X-Ray saved while performing a combo, you can finish your combo with the X-Ray move if pulled off correctly.

One last new feature to look forward to is the “Khallenge Tower.” The Khallenge Tower has different scenarios involving different characters. For instance, Mileena made Scorpion a teddy bear, but Scorpion won’t accept it because he hates teddy bears. Mileena says that Scorpion must accept it because she made it just for him. It’s unsure who you’re playing in scenario currently, but my guess is Scorpion.

Which brings up an interesting argument on whether or not friendship finishers will return in the new iteration or if they will be excluded. Personally, I’d welcome both Hara-Kiris and friendships for the new game, but Hara-Kiris will not be available to perform in the new MK. It’s still unclear if friendships will be available to perform or if they will also be excluded.

One final feature has been seen in the past MK games, which is an area to view artwork, movies, and other stuff that isn’t really relevant to the main gameplay. The Krypt is for the major MK fans who’ve been interested in the making-of stuff ever since MK3 and MK:DA.

The demo will stop once you get to face Goro and will play a new trailer showing off the good stuff mentioned above. But a special goodie for the PS3 fans is the God of War himself, Kratos. If I were Ed or Warner Bros., I’d replace Johnny Cage with Kratos nine times out of three. Seriously, I hate Johnny Cage. Even if you’re not a fan of the franchise, but like fighting games, you should give this game a shot. I think you’ll be made a believer.


Gregory Horror Show - A Review!

by G1 CyberFox

I was never a anime fanatic, though i do catch a good one once and a while even though sadly they never come stateside like Post Pet Momobin, Ocha-Ken, Nanami-chan and Kaiketsu Zorori due to the US anime industry is oversaturated with Animes with the following themes

- Giant Robots

- Michael Bay/Roland Emmerich style action

- Girls with Big Breasts (this goes double with the Magical Girl genre with the exception of “Onegai My Melody”)

and Anything from the Shonen Jump manga-zine

with the following, It’s no wonder why

the american anime industry is losing steam and losing to fansubs.

Where was i? Oh yeah!, Gregory Horror Show

We hardly get any quirky anime here in the United States as we get those of which i listed but we do get a small few like the Di.Gi Charat series, PANDA-Z, Sgt. Frog, Shin-Chan and Nerima Daikon Brothers (ON FUGG’N DVD!)

but the most overlooked and underrated anime that ever came stateside is without a scap of doubt is Gregory Horror Show.

The anime is created by Naomi Iwata whom created the Nelvana funded and co-produced series “Pecola” plus this anime is produced under the team name “Project Gregory Horror Show” as it’s joint project between Iwata’s company Milky Cartoon and japanese TV station TV Asahi (home of

Doraemon).

The anime is a mental horror show with a lite hint of Grindhouse-like elements (e.g. Blood and Light violence) ans comprised of 3 “volumes” and 1 side story series

The First two volumes has a unique first person perspective of the guest (kind of a like a Hitchcock kind of ordeal) and the third volume revolves Gregory on a train heading to who knows where

The side series “The Bloody Karte” (which is featured as a special feature in all 3 DVD volumes) stars Catherine, a pink lizard nurse armed with giagantic syringes and a thirst for blood even though Gregory steals the show in every chapter of “The Bloody Karte” for reverting to a comedy relief of the good kind

Now is the anime worth seeing? The answer is Hell Yeah!

though there are are anime elitists will dismiss it due to how ‘poor’ the CG is, this is what we get for taking films from Pixar and Dreamworks for granted.

I suggest you can watch them on Halloween or anytime you want something out of the anime we see in retail and those that are currently getting licensed

Pros: A unique CG anime with Hitchcock style horror and quirky humor

Cons: Not everyone will like it

Rating: 9.8/10



COMMUNITY BIRTHDAYSJanuary - February - March

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CONOR FLATLEY

ALLAN BIGNELL JR.

BENJAMIN LE

BRUCE WALTERS

KURT WILKINSON

MATTHEW MCINTYRE

JARED MOLLET

VINCENT PORCELLI

GREGORY BOGARD

JORGE SAMANO

LESTER RAMOS SHAWN MCCOWN

CMATCH07

AKUMADOKEN

RYAN MALLET

STEVEN SOKOLOLSKI

ANDREW MCMILLAN

LEO KOVALIK JR.

MRALLICE SNO WHITE

RYAN POULTON

ANTHONY MULAS

MATTHEW DAUGHERTYJEFF WILLIAMS

ALBERTO ESPINOZA-PEREZ

JUSTIN HUNTER

JOHN LUKE

KILPZIG

CRIMSON FOX XM

JIGOKU_ROA

TORAYAMI

KAIYENKAISER CINNAMINAMIN

THAMIELSTARGEEK13


SCREWATTACK

GORDIZZLE

SEAN HANLEY

GANGSTERKEN

FLUFFYMOOCHICKEN

GREMLIN92BATTLE KID

RETURNOFFABLE

ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

DOMINICK GLANTON

MALCOLM REBUGHINI WILSON VELASQUEZ

JAYSON JONES

MIDDLEMAN 97

PACDUCK

AGATIO

SHADOWV

CONOR FLATLEY

ZACHARY TOLBART

TONY YIPPEE

ALLAN BIGNELL JR.

IAN FERGUSON

KURT WILKINSON

JSNEY20

WULFON

LEVUS

AKUMADOKEN

HUMMERCHINE

EVANESCHFAN

DESTRUCTORV2

HEARTHLESSSEPH

BURGUERTIME

NIGHTHAWK_99

LAST SHAMAN

JONGERIC

ICICAZA

RYAN MALLET

STEVEN SOKOLOLSKI

ANDREW MCMILLAN

JESSY GUERRERO

BRETT VANDERBROOK

BOBBY CRANDALL

LEO KOVALIK JR.

MRALLICE SNO WHITE

RYAN POULTON

ANTHONY MULAS

JUSTIN HUNTER

JOHN LUKE

CRIMSON FOX XM

DE_STIJL

SETHIR

JIGOKU_ROA


LASTPAGE

Well It’s been a hard month and I should go back to the writting board for the next magazine, really kind of late but I hope you guys enjoyed this ma-gazine like always. I would like to actually do a good bye letter here for Des-tin, everyone has done one so I think it should be the right thing to do.

Hey Destin thanks for 3 years of news and awkward jokes which always made our days, I think if I would had started doing Hard News Weekend Edition I might have gone to another direction which I will never regret because I love doing videos and working anything VFX related. I think you are going to do a great journalist either internet or in the TV News, who know but whatever is your real goal in your life you are going through the right way.

Anyway success on your new projects and hope to see you soon!

Was a pleasure people, will see you next issue!!!

Peace!

GOOD LUCK DESTIN! BEST WHISHES FROM THE g1 COMMUNITY!

March 2011ScrewAttack Magazine © 2011

All Rights Reserved

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ScrewAttack Magazine #06